Blog 20- Evaluation and Feedback of the vide

Personal Evaluation of Final video

Throughout the video I think we have demonstrated many interesting camera techiniques and editing skills. My favourite part of the video is the begining an ending clips of the sun rise and then the reverse shot of the sun set which represents the beginning and ending of the main characters life as though she is living her life through one day. However, i think we could have showed her ageing rather than her staying at the same age through out because showing her ageing would have linked well to the beginning and ending of her life in one day. Although, we did film shots of her older during filming, we did not put these shots in because we did not film enough of her as an older person to make the video make sense. Therefore if we were to re do the filming, I would have made sure we filmed plenty of her as an older person so there was enough shots to create a storyline.

In this evaluation blog I am going to present proof of feedback and how the feedback has made me think of what I could do differently to improve my video. I am also going to explain how my video conforms and challanges existing media, explain how the digipack, advert and video combine together to attract the target audience and lastly explain how my knowledge has developed through use of media technologies.


Effectiveness of Video, Digipack and Advertisment

I think that the combination of my final video, Digipack and advert work really well to complement each other and promote the main product (the video). This is because the images used for the cover and inside of my digipack and the image used on my advertisement, promoting the new video 'my boy builds coffins', are all from the location where we filmed the video. This shows that I have thought about using a representable image that links to the video and the image found on the front could be found in the video. If i had choosen to use an image non relevant to the music video, it may not draw in the audiences interest to want to see more. The front cover of the advert and digipack is like a taster, building up to the real thing.














These images are both used either on my digipack or advert. They both show the locations in which we filmed in therefore the images relate well to the video.












Target audience

Our final video was specifically aimed to attract any audience under the age of 40. This is because, through my research I have found that people over 40 take less of an interest in music than younger generations who are fastly developing the world of music. At first, (before I conducted my research) my personal opinion was that Florence and the Machine mainly attracted a female audience becuase of the style of clothing and the natural settings that their videos took place in would appear to attract females more than males who you would think are more attracted to faster pace, more action videos. However, when researching this genre of music through two top mjusic magazines- 'Q' and 'NME'- where Florence appeared on the cover, statistics show that more males than females read these magazines suggesting that they take more of an interest in this style of music.

Therefore, we decided to keep our video to attract to all audiences of both genders and from the ages of around 16-40.

I think we have accomplished this by having feminin dance movements through out the video alongside a boy hammering and building a coffin. These show two gender stereotypes which we have specifically used to target both genders. The video would not appeal as much to children because it is more sophisticated and more focused on interesting effects and shot types rather than interesting colours and fun characters which may appeal more to children. Also the lyrics to the song are less likely to be exposed to children.



Existing Media

I have created a powerpoint presentation comparing still images of my own final media video to existing videos.
(Below is the link the the PowerPoint document)

https://docs.google.com/DocAction?action=updoc&hl=en


Feedback

I first uploaded our finished video onto facebook and asked for people to comment on what they thought about the video and any criticisms they could give.
The link below is the print screen from the facebook page on comments on our final video.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxZDhlM2UyNmEtZGRlNC00MjFkLTkyNWMtNWU2NjkwNGExOTY4&hl=en

However, these comments did not give any criticisms and I do not think they give an accurate reflection of the target audience because they all all from one age group, therefore, I constructed a survey asking direct questions about the video and sent this survey, attactched to the video, Via email to various contacts of different age groups to give better acuracy on feedback from the target audience.

Here are the links below to 5 sureveys that i picked out of all the replies I got which I thought were most useful.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IlLxoEIJ9CUNXizHVCkTAfhe3jSvCL4hVF1SsjAjPgw/edit?hl=en&pli=1#

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J-j18tnN_NvyRinPGji8g2dMqAQ7pd1lXKDvmCLxvy4/edit?hl=en#

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eLzvSZXACLxeYU8u9joh8IatNoc_6gOGKbENoD2ipDk/edit?hl=en#

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16z5103uQc30EU45Ys5EHFo5OdtMyCJIQA9-rR5OpDGk/edit?hl=en#

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S4dMxmF5d2u2T5cet0hAZE9sYvltLfHWUD7vAKEhDzw/edit?hl=en#

I think these surveys have really helped me pick out other peoples opinions on good and bad qualities of the video that i can reflect on!
The first question asked in the survey is: What do you think of the quality of filming? (Are there any parts of the video where the camera shakes or the lighting is bad?)
The feedback I got from these five respondants was that they didn't notice any faults in the quality of filming and that the camara remained stable and clear through out. Only one criticism that was made said that the establishing shot, from the trees then along the river, in one of the begining shots changes speed and the camera jolts very slightly, not tracking the shot as smoothly as we would have liked.

The second question is: Do you think the video links in well with the lyrics of the song?
Two of the respondants said that having the girl miming the lyrics to the song made a clear link between the video and lyrics. The genral view on this was that when the location changed to the boy building the coffin, this linked in better with the song lyrics. I think if we didn't put this scene in there would have been less of a link because the song is written about the boy building coffins, therefore, without this the song may not have really linked to the words at all. I really liked the feedback from one of the respondants on this question who said they thought it would have linked better if the location was set in a graveyard at night time to create a creepier setting which would relate more directly to the idea of death and coffins. I thought this was a very good idea therefore the video could have been improved just by changing the time of day and location. However, I think filming in the evening would create problems with the quality of filming because of poor lighting therefore this idea may have been too difficult to go ahead with.

The third question is: Is there a specific part of the video that stands out from the rest or that you particulary like?
The part of the video that was mentioned most in the surveys was the sun rise and sun set at the begining and end of the video. One of the respondants said 'I think its great how the ending is a reverse of the begining. At the beginning you have the sun coming up and the girl opening hers eyes representing her waking up then at the end she closes her eyes representing her going to sleep then the sun sets on the day'. I think this comment states the exact idea we were going for by having the reverse shots of sunrise and sun sets whilst the girl woke up then went back to sleep at the end of the day. Another respondant also said a similar thing. I like how people have said this in their feedback because it shows they understand the ideas we have put accross in the video. Another response was that they liked the dancers reflection in the river. This part shows our use of camera creativity and how we tried different ways and angles of filming. Another respodant stated how she liked the fade in from one location of the girl singing to another because the lip syncing would have been difficult to get on time. This was something that took a lot of time to look perfect, especially when fading from one lip sync to another. The timing had to be perfect here. This shows how we used our editing techniques effectively to create interesting ideas.

The final question is: Are there any improvements that you could suggest?
The response to this question was mostly positive saying how they thought the lighting/compositions/quality was all filmed very well. It is good to hear positive feedback and realise that people find it hard to pick out something negative. However, the only thing two of the respondants picked up on is in one of the miming scenes the actress sings one of the words wrong which looks very obvious. We could have re shot this to make the miming look perfect, however we didn't notice the word was wrong untill we put the miming clips against the song. I think this clip stands out negitively against the rest of the video and if I was to make an improvement I would have made sure the wording was correct whilst filming to avoid this happening.
Other than that I am really pleased with the feedback I have recieved which have mainly being positive whilst giving me some new interesting ideas and suggestions that could make my video better.

Based on the overall feedback I have recieved, one of the changes I would like to have made is to have included a setting of a graveyard which links in closer to the lyrics of the song. I think this would have created a scarier/horror story scene which could have been an interesting story line to match the song title- 'My Boy Builds Coffins'.

An idea I have progressed after carrying out my feedback is to have the main character located in a large graveyard and running from something that is unknown to the audience to create a dream like/abstract theme which is a recurring theme through out existing Florence and the Machine music videos which is what makes the band individual from others. Also I think filming the character in the graveyard, maybe trying to escape as the sun began to set as though her time was running out to escape from the horror story she was trapped in, would be a more interesting idea.
I think that we could have created many camera angles and interesting compositions using the gravestones. We could have used many creative camera idea's such as having a character creep out from behind one of the gravestones then changing their location using a time jump. We could have also had characters dressed up as the dead (crteating an interesting mis en scene) to make Florence look as though she is living in an afterworld which could look as though she is having a nightmare; again creating a dream like feel.
This scene could have then related well to the filming we have already done of the boy building coffins. The building of the coffin could represent that a coffin is being made for florence as though her time is almost up. I think these two scenes link really well because it would be almost as though Florence is already in the graveyard but is waiting for her coffin to be made whilst she trys to escape from the nightmare.

Media Technologies

When creating my Digipack and and advert I used the software 'Adobe photoshop'. In the previous AS task of creating a music magazine we also used this programe to create our product therefore, I already had knowledge of how to use the programme and what effects I could create using specific tools. Already having the basic knowledge helped me to develop and progress my knowledge to experiment with different tools. For example, on the cover of my digipack, Using the magic tool, I selected the corners of the image of the girl on the cover to round off her head and make it look like the forground on top of the background that I inserted behind this image. I then adjusted the lighting and contrast so both these images matched exactly to make them look like one image rather than one image placed over another.

When editing and creating our final video we used the programme 'Final Cut Pro', this was a new software to me therefore it took a while to get used to. However, once understanding the basics of how to select and cut sections of a video and other simple effects, it allowed me to then begin to experiment with the software and develop these basic skills. For example, we were taught in one lesson how to film the sky for a period of time and then how to speed the clip up to create an interesting sped up effect of the clouds moving across the sky. We then interpretated this effect into our own music video by filming the sun set then speeding it up. This shows how my knowledge of editing techniques have developed throughout the producation of our music video.

In our final video, you can see many interesting editing effects we have created using this software.

Conclusion

Through out the production of filming our music video I have learnt many new skills and how to put these skills into good use to create the best video possible. I think I have shown many interesting idea's in the final music video, such as time jumps, camera angles, lightings, speed of filming to match the pace of the music and lip syncing which shows my understanding of media technologies.

Blog 19- Finished Video

This is the YouTube link to our final video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dEf9lmS2ec

Blog 18- Creative camera use

In this blog I have print screened various clips from our final video, of Florence and the Machine- My boy builds coffins, which show any interesting techniques or special effects we have used with the camera and through editing.

Reverse sped up sunset.

This shot is used as the opening clip in our video showing the sun coming up. This clip was originally filmed as the sun set. It took us around 45 miutes to film the sun going down and then we edited this clip to speed up so it lasted 3 seconds showing a 45 minute sunset in 3 seconds which created an interesting effect with the sun and the clouds. We then reversed the shot of the sunset to make it appear like sunrise so we could use the sun set and sun rise at the beginning and ending of the video.


Experimenting with lighting.

This shot was orinially us playing around with the lighting because the image was too bright therefore we adjusted the lighting. However, when watching this shot back we thought the gradual change from a bluring bright lighted shot to the correct lighting was a really good effect therefore used it in the opening sequence. I think the gradual focus on the girl could also represent her coming out of a dream as though she is waking up.


Eyes opening on beat

We timed the girl opening her eyes to match the first beat of the music exactly. I think this represents the begining of the song well because it is the first human movement that introduces the rest of the video.

We had to cut the clip shorter in the middle to time the girl opening her eyes perfectly with the music. The middle that is cut is not at all noticable because the girl stays still through this first shot.


Establishing shot

We wanted an establishing shot which showed the surroundings of the following clip however this clip was filmed very slowely meaning it dragged on for too long therefore we sped up this clip through editing to make it last 10 seconds instead.

This shot showed goot camera creativity because we used different angles from up into the trees then tracked along the river which shows that we though about all the interesting angles we would fit into one shot to create a picture of the whole scenary.


Change in angle


We filmed the dancer running into the shot and spinning around once and we then filmed her from a new angle spinning around then running out of the shot (in the image below)

We put these two clips together when editing and created a small time lap so that you see the dancer spin twice as if the movement had been repeated in two different shots.

















Composition


I think this is a good use of camera creativity because we thought about interesting compositions we could use to make an image look more affective.









Time jump.

1.
We filmed this shot of the 4 girls walking through the forest. I thought the composition of the whole shot worked really well, however the clip was too long to put the whole thing in the video. Therefore, when editing, we created a time jump so the clip skipped a couple of seconds between each shot creating three seperate shots and showing the girls at 3 seperate stages of their journey.



2.












3.












Use of shot types/composition

This close up shows we have thought about using different types of shots to show the use of camera creativity through out the video.

The composition of this image is good because the character is not in the center of the shot creating a more interesting image because we can see her location in the background as well.





Use of editing transitions

We used the fade transitions between a close up of the girl singing and the girl singing on the floor.

We had to get the timing of the lip syncing perfect for this to work. Therefore, as the girl fades out in one shot, she is singing the same word in the next shot so you can see they are singing the same lyrics.

The second shot of her lying on the floor also shows use of camera angles as we have shot from above to view the girl from a new angle.


Slow motion

This shot was originally the girl spinning around fast. However, we slowed down the speed to match the slower change in pace of the music.

If we did not slow this shot down then it would have not matched the pace.







Extreme close up

We used extreme close ups of the boy's features to create a mysterious look about him. The audience never get's to see his who identity which makes an interesting effect.












Close up of detail

This shot realates specifically to the name of the song 'My boy builds coffins'. The close up shot allows the audience to see the specific detail of the boy hammering a nail to create the coffin.








Creating shadow's

We created a shadow on the wall of the boy building the coffin. The shadow on the wall creates a more interesting effect than if we would have just shown the boy himself building. This also adds to the mystery of the boys identity and gives an old fashioned look as though candle light is effecting this shadow on the wall.

We also slowed down this clip to create a smoother effect and the timing fits in better with the music.




Fade effect

We again used the fade transition effect from the boy building coffins to florence to show how the characters are relevant to each other and this also helps the audience make a link between the two scenes.








Change in angles

We shot this movement from the front. And then shot it from a low angle looking up to the character (shown in the image below).

Then, when editing, we put the two movements together as though the camera changes to another angle in that one single movement.

The timing had to be perect during editing otherwise the movements would not look like one single movement and would look obviously edited.

This shows our use of angles as well as linking two angles together to create one scene.










Reflection


We filmed the dancers dancing in the reflection of the river to create new interesting idea's.










We then filmed them continuing this dance sequence to create the same shot as in their reflection.









Running

We adjusted the lighting on the camera to look very bright to create a dream like effect. This links in with existing video's which also create an abstract dream like effect.

We also slowed this clip down to fit into more of a dream like theme and to also contrast with the pace of the music.




Conclusion

Through out filming we were very creative with different ways of filming such as use of all angles compositions and lighting. Editing helped us to pick out the effects that worked well and the effects that didn't work well which we experimented with whilst filming. Editing also helped us create new effects such as changing the speed of shots and using transitions between shots. Without using these editing techniques we wouldn't have been able fit in the shots with the timing and pace of the music to work effectively. Therefore, our camera creativity and new knowledge of editing skills and effects helped us toward creating a video that shows many aspects of good camera use which fits well with the pace of the song.

Blog 17- Rejected Footage

Throughout editing our music videos there were many clips we could not use being of various reasons such as bad lighting or props in the way. This blog shows the clips we did not use and the reasons why.

1. Props in the way


We were not able to use this shot as there were objects in the background that were not supposed to be filmed therefore did not fit in with the scenery. We re shot this image from a different angle away from all the props we bought for filming on that day.


2. Poor lighting


This clip was a different angle from the girl miming the song by the river. However, the lighting in this shot is poor and did not match the lighting of the clip from the other angle therefore was not used otherwise a noticable difference would be spotted if we were to change the angles of the characters position.


3. Laughing and Head cut


In this clip the characters chin is cut at the bottom of the screen and the character also laughs at the end meaning if it was used we would have to cut the clip short. Therefore, we re-shot this clip which was then used in our final video.


4. Headband over eyes


We also re did this shot as the band of leaves we created for the main character fell over her eyes as she was moving on the floor and miming to the song.


5. Falls off log


The main character standing on the log fell off as she was dancing which would have been noticable if it was used. Therefore, this shot was re taken.

6. Camera shake


We used a handheld camera to track the character gradually running away from the camera. However, trying to follow the character on foot made the camera very shaky which looked like poor filing. We overcame this by staballising the camera on the tripod and zoomed in after the character instead which was a lot more of a stable shot than the original clip (shown above).


7. Changed Idea


We originally decided to have the character young at the begining of the video, then as they day moved on, the character becomes older. However, we found it difficult to find shots to link in with the day moving on. If we would have used this shot in the video, the audience may have been confused as to why she has suddely become old which wouldnt make sense or fit in with the rest of there video. Therefore, we cut this idea, and stuck with having the character at the same age through out.


8. Scenary


This clip first shows the forest scenary giving the establishing shot which then reveals the character lying in the scenary. This clip was not used because we used a different establishing shot near the opening of the video, which was of the river, which then cut to the girl sitting by the river, therefore this establishing shot made more sense because we could link it well with the next shot.


9. Hammer


This shot was not used because as the hammer hits the surface, that we made out of card and sawdust, it moved around a lot and reveals the blanket underneth the card which we used to prop it up. Instead we decided to use the wooden work top and cover that in sawdust, therefore when this surface was hit, it looked more realistic and didn't move around as much giving a clearer and more stable shot.


10. Sun going down/Technical problem


This clip was not used because when uploading this film onto the computer, the middle shot of the sun going down was lost when the wire was accidently pulled from the computer therefore we only managed to capture half of the begining and very last shot of the sun going down. We overcame this by just using the first half of the sunset, which was speed up, so instead of taking half an hour for the sun to go down we changed it to last around 3 seconds for a different effect. We then used the fade tool on the last part of this clip which gave a similar effect to the sun setting completely.


11. Tree spin


This clip was not used because again it was handheld therefore difficult to keep it a smooth shot. It is a bad quality shot because the camera shakes a lot and it is a very fast shot so if it was used it would have needed to be slowed down. We wanted to use this shot to link in when the girl spins around looking up at the trees for an eyeline shot but decided to cut this clip due to the bad quality.


12. Shoe in the way


We tried to use as many angles possible which is showed in the shot over the character. However, the filmers shoe is in the way therefore we re took this shot making sure the shot was clear.


Editing our video gave us a good insight into what would be effective in our video and what needed to be removed from the video to avoid a bad quality final image. From this removed footage I have learnt how in the future I always need to check the lighting and contrast on the camera before a shot to avoid having a dull image that does not fit in with the lighting in the other clips. I have also learnt how the filming area needs to be checked for any props that may be in the way of filming. The camera is very sensitive to movement therefore myself and my group realised using a tripod was a better method for the clearest and stable shot possible.
Filming was a very good experience as it opened up new ideas that we could use for our video when arriving at the scenary such as the use of reflection in the water. I have learnt a lot of new techniques such as the fade effect and how to adjust lighting which has helped overcome any issues we came across.

Blog 16- Advert

I have analysed two Florence and the machine advertisements for various topics which will give me an insight as to what I need to achieve in my own advert.

The first advertisement is for an Itunes festival in London, which is a 31 night event headlining UK's biggest known artist's. Therefore this advertisement is going to be viewed by a large number of people to make the event well known around the country.

The advert is very simple using mainly black and white colours other than the work 'festival' written in red which jumps out of the page drawing people to this main focal point and making people aware that it is a festival. The writing 'Florence and the Machine' is very big and bold so people looking at the poster are immediatly aware of who the artist is and it is written in the usual serif font which is a modernised style of writting showing the the band is up to date and in style at this current time. However the image is very contrasting from the font as the artist is dressed in past time/old fashioned clothing which puts across a different look. Together, the font and style of the artist suggest that we are looking at a modern band who are putting across a new individual look by looking as though they are living in past years due to their dress sense and general style. The artist also stands out in the image as the surrounding are in dull lighting where as the artist is in a spotlight drawing most of our attension on her. The background looks like an old brick wall therefore the setting is again abstract as most florence and the machines settings usually are and again puts across we are looking back into the past. On the other hand, there is a metal lighting pole in the background suggesting she is at a concert in this image, which is again contrasting in effects from old to modern. The fact the image is in black and white also has an old fashioned effect as colour cameras would not have been around. However the bold red writting brings the image back to current timings.

This second image is an advertisement for HMV. HMV is the largest British global entertainment retail chain business. Therefore, again, this advertisement would be viewed by many people interested in the music industry and also forced onto people who may have little interest because the advert would be displayed for everyone to see therefore everyone would be aware of its presence.

Unlike the previous advert, this image looks a lot more modern and up to date which in some ways seems a negative factor as it takes away the individuality of the bands usual style. However, this image looks at a new fresh look which may interest fans. The image also displays lines out of one of Florence and the Machines songs which is more directed at fans because they will recognise the lines from a famous florence song without having to see the name of the song or band. The band name is diplayed in very small writting at the top of the page assuming that people looking at the advertisment will know who the artist is before looking at the name. Like the previous image it is in black and white giving an old fashioned feel however, again, the brand name 'HMV' is in colour therefore it jumps out on the page and is very eye catching. The colour also brings the image back to a modern feel.

After analysing both advertisements I have decided that the best idea for my own advert would be to follow a similar pattern by also using a black and white image (however my flat plans- shown below- are drawn in colour, but will be changed to black and white in the finalised image) and having the brand name in colour so it stands out on the page. I would like to keep the bands individual old fashioned style which makes them stand out as a unique band and also makes a more interesting and abstract image.

I have used the same style writting on all three of my advert flat plans because this style represents the bands genre the most because of the feminin and old styled but modernised look.

My fist flat represents the song title the most out of the three advert plans i have drawn. I have also used the artist on the cover as florence appears on most/all adverts or CDs. Therefore I have linked in the song title whilst still having florence on the front represemting the band. The band is most recognised by florences iconic face therefore it is important to have her on the cover to make their name more recognisable. This plan is a very simple idea having only the coffin and florence showing on a white simple background. This links in o the usual abstract look because the centre image is not placed in the setting you would expect it to be but instead is modernised to look added onto a plain background showing the use of modern technology. To fill the image the writting is writen down the side of the page on the blank space. I would criticise this image because I think it looks too simple and less interesting therefore fans or the general public may not be drawn into looking at it. Also I think it looks abstract in the way the technology has altered the background however I dont think it fits into the usual natural environment and individual look of the band. I think the advert needs to be more creative than this image.

The second two images i have drawn fit more into the stereotype of the bands usual look. I have also focused on drawing the images of the setting being used in our music video, showing a link between the advert and the video. I like this first image because what shes wearing could be viewed as old fashioned and individual which together makes up an iconic statement. I have focused on making an abstract image by having her looking up into setting sun through the break in the trees as though she is in a dream. I have also placed her on the edge of the water with her reflection showing which creates more of an unrealistic dream like look. I like this image because it is in the natural setting (like our music video location) which links in to the continuing style of the band because the bands usual setting would also be in a natural environment away from build up places to give an out of this time feel as though they are living in a different time from us, yet they still maintain a modern style by bringing their old fashioned looks up to date.

This last image is the advert plan that I have decided to use for the final image. It is again in a natural environment like the previous image therefore creating a feminin and past time look. I like the abstractness of the main artist peering round the trees as though she is hiding from something of keeping her identity hidden from the audience making them interested in looking at the image and wanting to find out more.

The bold red writting used on all three images is to make the writing jump out from the images that will be in black and white. Red also represents the band becuase the main artist is well known for her bold red coloured hair which is the main characteristic that makes the audience recognise the band. Therefore I have linked the colour scheme to the band. This is my finalised advert.

The original image showed more the the surroundings however I decided to crop it allowing only the artist standing between two trees . I like the composition of the image because the artist is not in the centre of the image therefore you can still see in the background of her setting. I choose to have her looking towards the ground and fringe covering half her face to have that hidden identity look which makes the image more interesting to look at. I decided to change the original colour image to black and white because many existing adverts of Florence and the machine are in black and white therefore I decided to continue this look. Because the image is in black and white it allows the writting to jump out from the page which will grab the audiences attension first.

One criticism I have of this advert is that the quality of the image is not it's best therefore I could have taken a few of the same photos to assure one of them was good quality enough to use on the cover of an advert. However, although the quality of the image is not perfect, I think it somehow fits in with the style of the band because it makes the image look old fashioned.

Feedback

I posted the Advert onto facebook and asked for some feedback. These are the comments I received...

Advert
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxYTA3ZGQyYmYtYzY5My00NWQxLThmMDMtN2QzNmQ2MzkzN2I3&hl=en

Both these comments explained how the Red writing on the black and white background worked really well together. It was suggested that these colours (Red and Black) could symbolise death which is related to the song. The criticism that was made says how the image and the name of the song 'My boy builds coffins' contrasts quite a bit because the character is laughin/smiling yet the song is about death. However, I think this contrasting effect fits in quite well with the continuing abstract theme through out existing Florence and the Machine images.

Advert 2
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNDQ4OTljNDgtMWMxNi00MmU0LTg4MWItZjY5YWQ5MmM3YTk3&hl=en

This comment (on the advert) also states how the red text stands out from the black and white image.

Every feedback has comments on the Red text on the black and white background. I think this works really well because the bold red text is going to be the first thing that grabs the audiences attension because of the striking colour. Then the audience is hooked, they can look past the writing into the interesting composition of the image. The Red writing could also symbolise death which is the theme and lyrics of the video.

Two comments have said how they like the composition of the girl standing between the trees. I like the composition here because the subject isn't in the center picture creating a more interesting image because you can see the background of the subject which displays the location.

Overall, I really like my final Advert because the bold writing grabs peoples attension by jumping out on the page and engaging them into the image further. I like how the colours symbolise the theme of the video that is being advertised.

Blog 15- Digipack

A Digipack is a compact disk or DVD packaging which consists of a front and back cover, a spine and one or more plastic trays inside, capable of holding the disks. I firstly created a whole Digipack based on the Florence and the Machine soundtrack we have choosen for our video. I created this Cover to specifically link to the video 'My Boy Builds Coffins'. The coffin, hammer and nails relate directly to the name of the video. I have then included a floral pattern at the bottom of the cover to create a feminim feel and the images are set in a natural envionment like most of Florence and the machine's videos are set in. On the front cover I have tried to put across a slightly abstract look by having people on the hills in the distance and having bright flowers against a night sky with a perfect moon and lots of stars spilling onto the ground; along with the hammer and nails on the opposite side. I have used a stricking colour for the sans serif styled writing on the front cover which says the name of the band and the album name. I used this colour because it is bold and querky like Florence herself and it also matches her hair colour. This colour could also be linked with the coffin as a symbol of death. On the back cover i have used a similar style of serif font but i have used the colour blue to match the stars and moon colours on the opposite page. On the inside of the Digipack i have used a simple format diplaying the one disk on the right hand side with a similar image as the front cover as the background. On the Left hand side I have written the lyrics to the featuring video 'My Boy Builds Coffins' as this is something fans may like to read along to when listening to the music.

I then analysed 2 Florence and the Machine album covers to compare them to my own, and make any improvements or changes which would make my Digipack fit in more with the style and genre of the artist. This album cover has a very simple yet abstract look it it. The Font is displayed above the image allowing the artist name to jump out from the rest of the image which may catch the audiences eye first. In my first Digipack I used a similar serif font showing this album cover has a similar theme to my own. The main focus is on Florence with an abstact picture being created around her. I also used an abstract look in my digipack however i have not used the artist to be the main focus on the cover which could be a negative factor because fans may be more interested to see their style icons on the front of the album they are buying.

The second Florence and the machine album cover I am analysing is Rabbit Heart. I have noticed how in both Covers florence appears on the cover and is dressed in past time clothing. She also continues to have an abstract background which is a theme and idea I need to follow to link my own Digipack to the style of Florence and the Machine. A serif font is used in this image which is a more old style of writting. After analysing both existing album covers I have had the chance to compare these to my own and have decided that I need to put the artist on the cover surrounded by an abstract background. I will continue using a serif font as this style has appeared on both the existing covers.

This is my second digipack front cover. After analysing previous florence and the machine Album covers I then went away with new ideas of how to incorporate the artists usual style into my own work, therefore, my album cover will fit the genre of the band. I have put the lead female artist (Florence) as the main focus on the page which will catch an audiences eye, as a familiar icon, which could draw them into buying it. I have continued an abstract theme by having only half her face showing, focusing on her features yet hiding the other half to crteate a mysterious feel. The background of the front and back cover will be the same as on my previous digipack as the background on this fits in well with the natural and feminim style of the artist. The Font will be displayed at the top in a sans serif font (which is a modernised style of writting) and in a bold blue colour (Not red as previous- so it does not contrast with her hair). I think this cover will be more appealling to fans than my preious cover because it is similar to other albums that have been released and has the main artist on the front, who can be seen as a style icon; therefore can influence and interest fans more.

My third digipack cover is similar to the image above, however the whole of the artists face is showing which gives a less abstract or mysterious feel as the last image does, but the flowers around her head show a more feminin and natural image which fits in with the stereotypical genre of the band and their music. The font is again in a bold blue colour contrasting with the colour of the the artists hair to make colours leap off of the page creating a floral and feminin look.
I have comnpared the last two of my digipack flat plans to choose which one I am going to use for the final image on the front of the digipack.
I have decided to use the previous image where only half the artists face is showing because i think this will look more interesting and individual to fans because the image gives off a mysterious feel pulling in the target audiences interest.


On one of the days of filming, myself and my group took many still images of the setting we were shooting our video in and images we planned to use for our digipack and adverts.

This (to the left) is the original image that I choose for the front cover of my final digipack. To match the image of the flat plan i cropped this image in half like shown in the image below.

I found that this image did not fit across the whole front page without ruining the quality of it, therefore i choose a background that would fit in behind the artist, on the front page, and also spread across the back page. (Image shown below).

I like this image because it shows a natural environment which links in with the genre of our video and the genre of the style of the band.
I placed the image of the artist over (the right hand side of) the choosen background image. This made them look very obviously like seperate images and I needed to get the artist to look as though she is in the background. Therefore, using the magic tool I selected and rounded off the corners of the image and the outlines of her hair then rubbed out these selected parts leaving the image to look more realistic. However, the images were very different in contract and brightness therefore I altered the image of the artist to match exactly the lighting of the background to create a final, and much more realistic, image, (shown below).



I then added bold red writing which contrast with the natural colours already in the image. I was originally going to use the font colour blue to contrast with the artists red hair, but this model has nutral coloured hair therefore I have used a red font which I think represents the original colours of Florence herself to link in with the band. I used the same sans serif font throughout the whole digipack allowing a continuing theme. I also wrote '(video)' next to the names of three of the songs to define which song titles you could also watch the video to within the digipack. To finish off the digipack I have written the usual smallprint at the bottom explaining copyright conditions which can be found on any DVD or CD. I have then inserted a bar code, a copyright symbol and the logo of the record company- island records- along with other legal symbols which are, again, found on the back of most DVD and CDs.


For the inside of the digipack i have used a similar image as on the back of the outside cover. I like this image because it shows a continuing theme of the outside/natural environment. This is also one of the settings in out video therefore it links in nicely with our producation. The CD/DVD will sit in a plastic case on the right hand side then on the left hand side is the lyrics to the song 'My boy builds coffins' which is the name of the digipack and also the name of the song we are using in our music video; so it links in well again. I have used the same font here as i have on the front so a continuing theme occurs throughout the digipack which looks more sophisticated and classic which will fit in the the general style of our target audience.

Feedback

I posted the cover and inside of my digipack onto facebook and asked for some feedback. These are the comments I received...

Comment on Digipack- back and front
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNDQ4OTljNDgtMWMxNi00MmU0LTg4MWItZjY5YWQ5MmM3YTk3&hl=en

Front- The respondant says how she likes the use of editing the colour of her lips to look pink which contrasts effectively with the red writing. She also states that the close up works well. I think the close up works better than a midshot because it is focusing on her features without giving away her identity giving a mysterious hidden look. A midshot would be less interesting because it gives away the identity of the character which is less interesting to look at. The half hidden face could persuade people to want to find out more.
Inside- The respondant like how the trees show the setting of the music video. I think this is an important aspect because the digipack and video combine together to make a pack.

Cover of Digipack
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMzdmZGJiOWQtOWFmYy00NWY3LTlkZjgtNmI5NTlmYjQ3NTgz&hl=en

This respondant states how the close up makes the image look mysterious and intriguing which backs up my theory that this close up works well to hook the audiences interest.

Inside of Digipack
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNzQ3MWQxMmEtNTBlMy00ZGNlLWJjNmUtZmE3M2QxZWNiYTNm&hl=en

This comment talks about how the sun coming through the trees looks sinister which goes well with the old styles writing. I like how the respondant has made a link between the font and the image because they link very well together in term of style and age.

Overall, I am pleased with the comments people have written as they have picked up on key aspects of the images such as location and text; The location is the same as in the video and the text looks sinister which matches the look of the tall towering trees which makes the audience feel over powered. Also the text through out the Digipack remains the same to continue a themed look of death. I think that the fact the text doesnt change all the time looks more sophisticated aiming away from children who would have less taste in the style of the band.

Blog 14- Shooting Diaries

6th February 2011

Our first filming of the music video took place on the 6th of february 2011 in friston forest which gave us the perfect location for our music video because we planned to have most the video in a woodland area similar to most florence and the machine themes in existing videos. We decided to begin shooting at 12pm as the midday sun would give us the best quality of lighting as well as being able to continue filming through out the day untill we began to lose the day light. As we arrived to the location we were concerned because the weather was a bit drizzly therefore we had to think about maybe postponing our filming for another day as the drizzle could damage the camera as well as not being able to film all the ideas for the video that we had such as logs being dangerous fot the actors to clime on or lying on the damp floor. However, as we walked into the forest contenplating wheather to continue filming the weather seemed to clear up, although the lighting wasnt as good as we wanted it to be therefore we overcame this by adjusting the lighting and contrast on the camera to look like it was a brighter day than in reality. In the end the shooting went very well dispite the fact only 2 out of the 6 actors/dancers, who originally said they could make it, were able to come. We managed this fine by instead shooting shots of just the girl playing florence and also shooting scenes of the settings that could be used in the video, therefore in the next shooting slot we could concerntrate more on the dancing and routines when more people could make the filming time. We used just the main character to start our original idea of having her young at the begining then as they day goes on we could show her as an old person using make up and clothing. We later decided not to use this idea as it did not fit properly with the rest of the video. We also experimented more with the camera by trying different shots such as close, mid and long shots as well as using different camera angles of the same shot so when editing we could switch the angles to make it look more interesting and show we have experimented more with different camera uses.

<<< This image shows the use of make up to show an older person who is clearly young underneath to create an abstract image.













20th March 2011

We continued the forest scenes on this later date. The weather was a lot nicer on this day allowing us to use the lighting effectively and also film the sunset as the day got later. All the dancers turned up for this date which meant we could now shoot the dancing sequences and film the main character with the dancers in the background to make a more interesting image with more than one focal point. These shots worked well with the filming we did on the previous date because we now had single shots of just the main character as well as dance shots which we could use well to break up the music video. We made all the characters in the video wear all black clothing which contrasted nicely with the bight colours of the forest showing an interesting mis en scene.

We decided to also give the main character a band of leaves round her head to look more natural and show she stands out from the other characters. Again we filmed dancing shots from different angles so when editing, for example, we could have a shot of the dancers from the front then switch to them doing the same movement from a long side shot so the two shots link together. This shows us developing new ideas with how we can use different camera angles to create more interesting idea. We also used shots looking down onto the main character on the floor. As well as lots of dancing shots we also decided to get the main character to sing the whole song in lots of different locations and angles. We filmed her by the river from the side, on a boat from the side, on the floor from above and sitting between two trees from the front. This was we could use many shots in the video of her singing various parts of the song in different locations as well as switching back to the same locations.

<<< This image shows the mis en scene of the black clothing against the bright colours of the forest.











<<< The band we created to make the main character stand out from the dancers













<<< Showing the use of different angles














Lastly, later on in the evening we filmed the sun going down which we would later speed up during editing so we could use for the ending and reverse the shot for the begining symbolising the begining and ending of the video. It was very important that the camera was not moved during this time therefore we secured it to the tripod and left it for around an hour as the sun went down. Unfortunately the battery ran out just at the end of the sun set therefore we could not get complete darkness as we wanted however we edited this so the last bit of the sunset faded therefore it had the same effect of complete darkness. We used the fade effect to do this.


<<< The camera on the tripod filming the sun set.



















15th Feb 2011

This filming slot was dont in a studio at college allowing us to film our sencond location of the boy building the coffin in a shed like surrounding. Luckily one of the walls in the studio was brick which was a perfect background to film against as it showed a work place effect. We used close ups of a hammer hitting a nail repeatitively which we would put in time with the music. We also did lots of close ups of features of the boy such as eyes and mouth and also filmed his shadow, but never filmed the whole of him to make the boy a mystery so the audience can never see his whole identity throught out the video creating a more interesting look. We used a studio spot light and angled it to the side of the character creating his shadow next to him on the wall. We then shot him hammering again in the shadow which we could again put in time with the music. I think this is an interesting affect because we thought about other ways of filming the boy in the work shed rather than just simply filming him working.
The filming went really well in the studio as the lighting worked well to create shadows on the wall which we captured at a good angle on film.

Blog 13- Shooting Schedual

I have created a table of all of our plans for filming our music video. https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxOWIxMWVkMzAtOWQ0Yy00NWZjLWEzN2EtYjRhYTE3ODExZTkx&hl=en We have decided to film for 2 days in a forest which should give us around 4 hours of footage to select what we can use in our video. We are then booking time in a studio room at college, on the 15th of february, which will be used to film our idea of changing the location from having dancers in the forst to the boy building coffins in a work shed. This scene of the boy in the work shed will link in well with the lyrics to the song and also show we have used two locations.

Blog 12- Health and Safety

During the production of our Florence and the Machine music video, I have understood all about the precautions needed to ensure the cast and crew are safe when filming the video.

Each time before shooting we have been givin a health and safety sheet to fill in which allows us to think about what hazards may occur during production. The first time we went out to film was going to be in a forest therefore there were lots of factors to consider before we went into the outdoor environment and how we would overcome these factors.
We had to consider that if the weather was bad we would have to re organise filming as the camera could become damaged in wet and windy conditions. We were going to have the cast standing and dancing on logs and on trees which could potentially be a hazard for them, therefore we had to check that the surfaces they stood on were not slippery and make sure that they were aware of any hazards around them. Also, the camera would be on a tripod for the duration of this filming time so we had to make sure that the tripod was on a stable surface and would not tip or collapse potentially damaging the camera.
We went out into the forest a few times for filiming production and each time we filled in a new health and safety sheet so we were continuously aware and thinking of the dangers.

The second part of out filming was done in a studio where there were more dangers to consider. We used lighting therefore there were lots of wires around the room which we had to be careful of and make sure that the cast were aware of. It was also in a very confined space so we decided that only four people could be in the room at one time to ensure there was less chance of anyone tripping or damaging equipment. As the shooting was done inside we did not have to consider re organising it as there was no danger of bad weather.

The health and safety section of this course has helped me to realise that filming is not only about the filming itself but that I also need to consider safety issues beforehand to assure there is less chance of anything going wrong before filming.

Blog 11- Storyboard

Myself and my group together went to the location where we would be filming our video (in the forest) and took many images of the shots we planned to use in our video. We have used drawn pictures and photo images to put the story board together. I then scanned in the storyboard and created a powerpoint presentation. Below is each slide of the powerpoint presentation, in order of the storyboard we created.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNjMzYWRlZjItYjA2Ny00MzE0LTk2ZjUtYTlmNDYwZjg4YTg4&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxZTQ2ZDRlYjItMjBhMC00ODUxLWFkNzEtYTU4M2RhN2U0NGFi&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxOWUzNDdkNjAtMTE2YS00NGY2LWIzYzAtMTdlNzljZjFmNTA1&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMjE3NzRkNGYtZDhiNC00Njg0LTgyMTEtNmNkMDM2NDRjNzU4&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMDQ1MzdkY2QtMmM5NS00YjYxLThhZjktMjAxYTEyMjE5ZjMw&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxYzE2ZDllMmQtYzFkOC00MzhjLWFjYzEtYjM1OGY3ZjQ1Nzcx&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMmNjYzBlMjAtOGM1Zi00NTI3LTkyN2UtYTdiZDhmZWFlMzYx&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMjdhZTgyNmQtMTYxMi00MTc5LWJhODItNGE1YWVhODcxY2Ni&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxZmU4YTQ5MTItYjk2Mi00MWI1LWI2N2UtOTFkZjM2NmE2MmU5&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNWE2ZDcwODQtZjVlNy00MDc0LTk2YzUtMzBjYzdmMGViOTNk&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxM2Q1NWM0MzItMzI4Zi00ZDUyLTg0YjEtYmE1ZDhlMzFhODM1&hl=en