Changes To Video

There are a few changes I will be making to my music video due to me either thinking they will work better or for the fact it will make it much easier to complete my filming in time, so I have long enough to edit. Firstly, I will be using balloons and drawing faces on them in marker pen and using them as the 'friends' in some scenes. This is because, one, there isn't much time for the people I cast to come to my house for filming due to them having other commitments, etc., two, it adds to the silly, light-hearted feel of the video, and three, it will tie in nicely with my ancillary texts as photos of balloons will be used on them. I also will be using clapperboard early in the video (when the lyrics state 'Thursday night') rather than a calendar. This, I feel, will be more effective and fit in better with the style of the video. Finally, I will be using ketchup and mustard to draw smiley/sad faces on white plates (when the lyrics state 'every time you're upset and I smile'), rather than the pizza. This is simply because it will stand out better on camera, and I can possibly use pictures of the faces on my digipak, helping to establish continuity between my products.

Coming Up With Digipak Tracklist

Ancillary Texts Photoshoot (25/02/15)

Pre-Shoot

Tomorrow I will be doing the photoshoot for my ancillary texts. Due to the high demand for the green room at the moment, I am going to use it after college because by that time the majority of people will have gone home, making it easier to get the shoot done and removing any pressure of having to rush. I have organised it with Emily and she is free which is really lucky considering it is such late notice, so I am very grateful that she is doing this for me. The outfit she will be wearing is her black velvet playsuit, black tights and boots. I will be styling her with her hair down, wavy and slightly messy, and she will have a natural style complexion with flicked eyeliner and dark red lipstick. The look is similar to ones within the music video to create continuity. I will also be bringing props that feature within the video which I will photograph and be using for the different sides of the digipak.

Plan/Checklist:

• List of possible poses for Emily
• Red lipstick
• Black eyeliner
• Hair grips
• Lemons
• Balloons
• Sharpie pen
• Heart shaped glasses
• Ketchup & BBQ Sauce 
• Converse

Below are the messages between me and Emily when planning the shoot:

Actual Photoshoot


Shoot Diary

Overall I am very pleased with how the shoot went today, some of the pictures have turned out really well and I will definitely be using them on my ancillary texts. Luckily there was cameras and tripods free for the day, and no one else was in need of using the green room, so that was a massive relief. I used an Olympus SP-720UZ camera and a smaller tripod than the ones I used for filming, as this was more appropriate for the style shoot I was doing. When I got to the green room I started to prepare the props and set up lighting whilst Emily got ready, then I added finishing touches to her hair and makeup. The only issues I really had was in relation to the balloons I was using as props. They proved difficult to blow up and tie, but after a lot of attempts we finally managed to get enough blown up ready for the pictures. I initially wanted to have pictures of the balloons mid-air but I decided this wasn't going to work after multiple attempts, using every method I could think of, so I tried various shots of the balloons instead. I also tried lots of different ideas using the props I had brought, which all link with aspects of the video (creating continuity), some of which I came up with on the spot, and I actually found that these ideas tended to work best. Therefore, I am happy with the photos I took today and I will start experimenting with them and see which work best for my products.

Magazine Ad Mock-up

I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick mock-up of my magazine ad on picmonkey.com just to get an idea of the layout of the product and see if my initial ideas will work.

Magazine Ad Mock-up One:

Obviously this is just a quick mock-up to get an idea of if the layout works, etc. so it isn't up to the standard needed for my actual products. I haven't done a photoshoot for my ancillary texts yet so for the main image I just used on of the behind the scenes pictures I took of Emily, who plays my artist, during one of the filming sessions. The fonts used are also just two of the fonts that were available to use on picmonkey.com, not the real fonts I'll be including (but they were the ones I felt had a similar style). I included all the conventional features of a magazine ad that I will be putting on my product, e.g. release date, included singles, record label logo, social media, etc. so I could ensure the placement I was going to use worked effectively.

From creating this I now know the layout I wanted to use for my product works well and looks professional, and the placement of each feature is appropriate.

Record Label

Second Draft of Music Video

 I still have quite a bit of filming and re-filming to do for my video, which is why there are still quite a few blank spaces in this draft. I was hoping to have completed all my filming by now but due to difficulties trying to find times when my actors, the green room and camera equipment were all available at the same time, I unfortunately couldn't get this done. However, I have now learnt from these mistakes and will be more organised when it comes to time keeping and filming planning, e.g. ensuring I book out the green room and camera equipment much further in advance, and find out exactly when my actors are available so I can come up with a thorough plan. Therefore, I will continue filming straight after half term and ensure I have all filming completed within the first 2 weeks back (preferably just one week if possible!!).
There are some definite changes that need making for my next draft, such as transitions needing to look smoother, a couple of timing issues that need correcting, and some re-filming due to lighting not looking as good as expected. I want my final product to be perfect and look professional and stylish, so I will continue working on the video until I reach these standards.

Places of Publication - Ancillary Texts

I thought it would be beneficial to do a brief presentation to show some of the places my ancillary texts could be published/sold. This helps to give an idea of what would be expected from my products and how important they are as part of a promotion package. Due to this, I can get into the mindset that I am creating these products for a real life artist, so professionalism, cohesion and style are key.

Magazine Ad Mock-Ups & Digipak Template

These are some brief mock-up structures for my magazine ad. I created them on publisher by using basic shapes and text boxes, just to give a simple idea of the possible layouts I could use for my product. Each mock-up contains the conventional features of a magazine ad, so I can ensure I include these key features in my product. They are based on the layouts of existing magazine ads, so once again, are conventional in this way. I will practice with these layouts when making my drafts so I know which will work best for my final product.

This is the template for the digipak I am creating. It has six panels, with two disks. I am uploading this template on to photoshop and then after creating each section, I will be put it all together so the dimensions, etc. are all accurate.

Possible Colour Scheme Ideas/Experimenting

A good colour scheme that fits the genre and image of the artist is key for both digipaks and magazine ads, which is why I want to ensure I use the perfect colour scheme on my products. I wasn't really sure where to start when it came to thinking up a colour scheme for my products because when I looked at existing products, I didn't really find any 'set in stone' colours used for different genres, as each artist appeared to have their own unique style when it came to digipaks, etc. especially indie artists/bands. Due to this I took to Google and searched for 'colour scheme creator' and the second site down was 'color.adobe.com'. This site was so useful because not only did it provide a colour wheel, but also had colour rules to choose from, e.g. monochromatic, complementary, shades, etc. which meant that you could create lots of different styles and effects. I started off by doing this and then found that you could upload images on the site and it would create a colour scheme from the image. I decided to upload some of the moodboards I have created and see what the outcomes were from this. I have put screenshots of the different images and colour schemes below, and I really like the colour schemes that have been suggested. Each one seems to be slightly similar to the others, with different variations of pinks, yellows, blues and reds being the main colours on all of them. However, these colour schemes do contain 5 colours and I want mine to be 3 main colours at the most, as I think the more simplistic products look the best. I will do some further experimenting with these colour schemes and get some feedback from my peers, etc. before making any final decisions.