Thursday 24 November 2011









We have tried to incorporate a number of technical shots within the music video, in this particular shot i have used 3 of the same shots with one other shot which fits in with the lyrics of the song separated into the same size in each corner.








I then added another three of the same shots on top of the previous, with each of the 3 shots i have divided them into equal thirds which match with the edges of the previous shots.
I then selected the pen tool and selected the two point where i wanted to fade from and too. I repeated this for all 7 of the shots, his helped to create a smooth transition and change of shot which fitted with the song.
          

The shot ends with the 1 shot split into 3rds making a visually appealing shot.

how to create stickers

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-custom-stickers-with-Microsoft-Word/

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Layers Within Editing

As you can see our video required many layers to create the effect we were trying to achieve. The amount of layers ment it took a long time to do, as well as making it quite complicated when we started as sometimes it was confusing as to which clip should go where.

Facebook Page

We chose to create a facebook page for our music video. This is beneficial in the industry as viral marketing is extremely cheap and it reaches an astronomical amount of people as it is a vast social network. It will also reach our target demographic (young men and women)

Technical Difficulties



 Throughout the video there were difficulties with editing the separate clips together and getting them to pop up on the beat of the song, this was probably the most common difficulty whilst creating the music video. I'm happy with the majority of the song but there are certain points in the video where it could be more on the beat but we were a little tight for time so weren't able to perfect as much as we would have liked.

Complications With Editing


We had a number of problems throughout the editing process. Right at the end of the video the lines where supposed to fade out smoothly but instead the lines flicker in and out in a split second which is quite minor but doesn't look right and interrupts the smoothness of the video.

Thursday 17 November 2011

Possible track titles

  • All too much
  • Wrong turn
  • Fast lane
  • Fall
  • If only
  • I'll be fine
  • Lost souls
  • Bright sky
  • You wish
  • So you think you understand?
  • No tomorrow

Ancillary Task

FINISHED EDIT FOR FRONT OF DIGI PACK

Ancillary Task

I decided to edit this photo - as it is clear and the pose is suitable for an album cover.


Firstly I removed the white background and then duplicated the image of the model. Next I made the duplicate image bigger and warped it with the tool 'liquify' I then added various 'masks' on the warped image. I then downloaded a set of brushes online which I felt would be good to use. I splattered the paint on the duplicated image to create this effect. Next I erased the bits that didn't look right - I then 'colour burned' the images to create a warmer glow. I then added a white background and 'ORSON' text. I finally added further paint splatters over the image and changed hue/saturation/ and brightness contrast to give it an industry style look.

By using different types of brushes and changing the spacing, angle jitter ect I managed to create the intended 'dispersion' effect.


Inspiration for our digi pack

This effect looks great for an album cover - it also links strongly to the theme of our music video - The fragmented emotion about love.

Again a strong empowering image - would easily grab attention in shops if it was an album cover. Links to our theme.


As our music video is split screen - going for an album cover like this would suit well.

PHOTOSHOOT White

Here we blocked of half of the natural light with a black screen- because of the sunlight it allowed us to achieve a natural looking shot.

The white of the walls would make it much easier to edit in photoshop

The lights added a nice 'warm' glow and complimented the white of the walls well.

The yellowish colour of the lights gave a nice reflection on skin tone and it looked professional

Shooting in the white room seemed to be the best. We blocked off half of the window with black card to give natural light to the model. This natural light coupled with the artificial lights gave a nice image and looked great on the camera. Knowing that the lighting was great - we could experiment with new exciting shots from different angles. We found by pointing the lights in certain places gave great shadows and looked great on the models face.







PHOTO SHOOT BLACK



Shooting in the black room didn't work as good as the green room. We found that it came out badly on the camera - so we had to change the WB (white balance) to get a decent shot. The lights were too harsh in the dark room and the lack of natural light seemed detrimental to achieving a suitable front cover image. The images didn't turn out very well.






PHOTO SHOOT GREEN




Shooting in the green room would make it easier to edit on photoshop because the background can easily be removed as it is a fluorescent and bright. Although we found when shooting the brightness of the green was too overpowering and bounced back onto the person being photographed given them a greenish skin tone. The use of lights helped and we managed to get some good shots.



Lesson Plan 10/11/11

  1. Upload Music Video 
  2. Blog about how the photo shoot went 
  3. Blog about how photoshop was used to create the digi pack

Lesson Plan 10/11/11

In today's lesson we will leave Dan to finish editing the music video. Meanwhile the rest of us will take a still camera out to the Green/White/Black room and experiment with different shots for our ancillary digi-pack task.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Youtube split screen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELgjuHTbT3o
The film I was looking for was the Thomas Crown Affair.  Here is a link to the title sequence.
http://youtu.be/ELgjuHTbT3o

Photoshop effects

Below is a link for a tutorial on photoshop. This effect is unique - it reflects a theme of change and uncertainty. I feel it would be suitable for our ancillary task.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwK4lG0HyO0

Friday 11 November 2011

Split Screen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAHjbjDALFk


Above is a link for a split screen tutorial. 

Tuesday 8 November 2011

The Plan

Below is the plan we took out on the day of shooting. We were all briefed a week prior to shooting to familiarise ourselves with what was going to happen.


MUSIC VIDEO PLAN
FINAL



PRODUCTION DETAILS
PRODUCTION MANAGER FINN MORRELL - 07837007329

CAST

1 = FINN MORRELL
COSTUME 1= Brown chino's, white trainers, Grey crew cut-shirt, Red zip up hoody
COSTUME 2= Brown chino's, white trainers, Brown crew cut t-shirt, Green v-neck jumper


2 = AMY DOUGLAS
COSTUME 1 = Black leggins, brown pumps, Black vest, Red knit jumper, Grey Sarf (optional)

                                                                                                                                                               

(PREARRANGED) PRE - PRODUCTION DETAILS

CAST
FINN MORRELL = to be dressed in costume 2, and bring costume 1.
AMY DOUGLAS =  to be dressed in costume 1, but bring green coat JIC

CREW
JOE ANDREWS =  to bring green screen and sellotape/bluetack
TOM ASHBY = to bring camera, tripod, charger and cases.
DANIEL GILES = to bring shot list
ALL = money for lunch, or packed is optional.

WEATHER = CAMBRIDGE  = warm and dry, expected high of  22 degrees C
                                                                                                                                                              

9:00 AM - Meet at location one and set up camera tri, - pod ect.  (EVERYONE REQUIRED)

9:10AM -  'EXT shots 1,8' (CAST REQUIRED 1,)

1 = COSTUME CHANGE (COSTUME 1)
9:30AM - ' EXT FLASHBACK shots 2,3,4, (CAST 1,2)  

10:00AM - 'EXT  FLASH BACK shots 5,6, (CAST 1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10:20AM - walk to location two and set up camera, tri - pod ect.

10: 35AM - 'EXT FLASHBACK' shots 14,15,16,17 (CAST 1,2)

1 = COSTUME CHANGE (COSTUME 2)  
11:10AM - 'INT shots 9,10,11,13,18, 20 (CAST 1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12:30PM - walk to location 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12:45PM - BREAK FOR LUNCH  food outlets available near location 3 - and benches to sit

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 1:15PM - set up camera, trip - pod ect.

1:20PM - 'INT shots 7,19,21,' (CAST 1)
                'EXT shots 12,22

1= COSTUMECHANGE (COSTUME 1)
2:15PM - 'EXT FLASHBACK shots 23,24,25,26,27' (CAST 1,2)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ESTIMATED WRAP: 3:00



Location Location Location!

Our choice of location was important and a time was spent into researching the best possible locations. Obviously it needed to be reasonably easy for the whole group and actors to get there - so not miles upon miles away for an individual. So we came to the decision to shoot our music video in and around the city of Cambridge. It wasn't difficult to get there and we all were some what familiar with the city.

But what next? we needed to discover individual locations that would be appropriate for the narrative and the mood of the song. What was needed was a recci of some initial location ideas. I looked around the locations and chose what I thought was most suitable. The group was happy so we decided to stick with what I had chosen.

I chose locations which were not to far from toilets and food outlets for when we needed lunch. In case of severe weather - a contingency plan was needed. Our contingency plan was to shoot all INT shots until rain had stopped.
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Adobe Photoshop is a high end editing program and is used by proffessionals in all sorts or industries. It sheer arsenal of features and tools makes it a league above other programs.

Photoshop is commonly used to edit photos for - magazines, advertisemets, film posters, promotional adverts ect. but more importantly for us it is commonly used for editing photos for Album covers.

For our Album cover we will be using Adobe Photoshop CS5.1    -     I feel by using this software we will produce a much more realistic and proffesional looking product.

CD COVER ASPECT RATION (INCHES)















It is important we stick by these dimensions and apply them to 'Photoshop' to make it as realistic to the real thing as possible.

Lesson Plan 8/11/11

- Keep up to date with blogger and attempt to contact the band 'Orson' 
- Continue to edit the Music Video and split screen at least half of the Footage
- Get Started on editing still images together on 'Phtoshop' for the ancillary task 

Attempt to contact the artist

Unfortunately this cannot be done as the band split in 2005.

To Split or Not to Split?

The next decision to make was whether or not to make the whole video split screen or not. The feedback was mixed but the general consensus was to go for it. We felt this way it gives the music video more personality and a clearer divide between the narrative and the lip syncing performance. After testing out the split screen on Final Cut - we felt we made the right decision - and so far it is going well and we are trying out new and exciting way of using this type of editing. 

Our Narrative

We spent a long time talking about narrative and an equally long time talking about how to make it fit into the music video itself. The chorus of the song repeats the lyric love. But on a broader scale we realised that the lyrics are talking about him loosing his lover and trying to get her back. We took this structure and applied to the screen via the use of a narrative. We decided to flit between the lip syncing and narrative, to give the viewer a story as well as a performance. We decided to dress the lovers in red jumpers to show the connection between them. Red is also a colour that symbolizes love, and we felt it would suit best.

Feedback for another groups rough cut

- needs to establish sexuality, can be confusing for the viewer seeing two males sing about love and sex, and seeing no female character. NEED TO SEE FEMALE to avoid homoerotic connotations.

- Pointless shots. e.g shot of horse running in a field.  has no link to the music video. can be confusing for the viewer to establish unnecessary shots. (GOODWIN)

- effective lip syncing, although not perfect at parts.

- appropriate performance - but could be more enthusiastic.

- Good shots. High angle, Low angle, tracking shot, pan and zoom were used well.

- Quicker cuts in editing would suit the music video well.

- Unfinished.

Friday 4 November 2011

Image to text album cover

http://www.text-image.com/convert/pic2html.cgi
We have tried a number of different images on this sit as it converts simple images into images made using text. It gives it a textured effect and we particularly liked the black and white effect. We thought it would fit in with the indie/rock genre as it was unique yet gothic which represented the bands style. We want to try a still shot from our video that shows both the male and female performer which would fit in with the love theme.

Mise en scene Research

Certificate of Song

U : All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children over 4

The content of the lyrics is suitable for a universal audience because there is no explicit language, reference to sex, innuendos, social and political taboo's, discrimination or violent content. 

Previous Orson album cover

This was Orson's only album cover, It shows the band against a Gothic but vibrant background. The font is bold but curvy and has an outer glow to draw attention to the band name and album name. The band fits in with the indie/rock genre and this is demonstrated through their choice of costume. The lead singer is placed in the middle of the album cover which shows he is more important.

Thursday 3 November 2011

I can't win- unversity music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSz7TiebUyI&feature=related
This video is by a university group and they also use the split screen edit to base there video and it draws many comparisons to what we want to achieve as it develops a narrative of love using the split screen. The male and female protagonists each occupy a side of the screen with a black split down the middle, and they follow a separate narrative although they both add to a wider narrative of the video. Both the male and female have similar experiences which lets the audience know that there is a connection between them which makes it clear, this is good as in a video you need to give present information in a certain way so the audience knows what is going on. The ending is very clever as it brings the two characters together and when they finally meet they enter the other half's split screen in a crossover type scene, the video then ends with the absence of the split screen.

Frances-Cold water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKYmhq0K-Z8
The link above is for the music video cold water from the band 'Frances'. They use a spit screen shot for the whole video and utilise it by walking in and out of different shots and creating visual effects by standing close to the split. This is effective because it has a quick cut rate which is essential to sustaining interest. As a group we liked the video and thought the use of the split screen was good as it was deployed in a different way every time so you didn't get bored with the concept, which allowed them to get away with using the same effect for the whole of the video. The lyrics of the song aren't really used in the video and there is no obvious connection, but they do use the tempo of the music to set the speed for the cuts which made the video fit the song really nicely.

How we are going to use the feedback?

The feedback was generally positive and many of the criticisms highlighted problems we already knew we had with the product. One of the main talking points with the video was our use of split-screen, as a class the idea was popular and they thought that some of the shots could have lasted longer. Another area for consideration was what theme should be used in our video as there was a conflict in styles between our smoother, fluid shots and the edgy cuts such as the split-screen. One of the main pointers was that it would be a more effective product if we went with one idea or another as it would improve continuity and make it look more like an industry level music video. After the feedback, we decided as a group that we would go with sharper edits opposed to the smoother shots as we believe it fitted better with the tempo of the song and would be a more unique video as there was always the chance with the smooth flowing shots that it would turn the love theme into a cheesy video and it would lose its impact.

Feedback for Rough-cut

Positives-
Good performance and lip sync x2
Liked the concept of split screen x6

Negatives-
The split screen could be longer to make it clear what is happening
Needs to find identity and style as it is a mix between smooth shots and edgy edits
Go with one style so the video has a clearer identity