Week Twenty

Week Twenty

Week Nineteen

Week Nineteen

I am now currently editing the majority of my video and this stage of the post-production is now well underway as I am now a third of the way through the video. I mostly cut up the clips-which I had apporpriately named so that I could distinguish each clip but also not get confused between them- using the cut tool in the bottom right corner of adobe Photoshop CS3. However, due to the fact that a lot of my footage was filmed at night I came across many problems with the colour of the clips and in order to rectify this issue I had to use the colour correction tools. Here, I played around with the RGB settings but also the tint of the clips so that I could brighten some, and darken others. Thus creating a medium between all of the clips and creating an effective video that flowed nicely in the looks but also the narrative.

Week Eighteen

Week Eighteen

On the eighteenth week of producing my final project I looked into possible locations for my party/bar scene whilst continuing to shoot the rest of my video. For the planning of the locations, I desired to ask local bars if they would allow me to come into their business for a few hours in order to shoot what I needed and gain professional, looking and successful footage. I knew that this was a big challenge, however I felt that it would be attainable at the correct businesses, and thus used my initiative in order to gain what I needed. Below you can see the email that I compiled in an attempt to gain access to a bar for the shooting of my video. 

Alternatively, this week I constructed a timelapse of clock hands spinning around that- when complete- would play a fundamental role in my video and adhere to the theme of time that runs throughout all of my products. At first I attempted to use the timelapse with the default settings on the 550D, however this was not fluid enough and the range of options was not wide enough for what I wanted to create. As a result of this, I decided to install software called Magic Lantern onto the camera which allowed me to set up an intervalometer of 30 seconds and save battery power so that more photos could be taken. This in turn resulted in a much more effective timelapse and is exactly what I was looking to create. 

Week Seventeen

Week Seventeen

This week in the production of my music video I began to edit the clips that I had gained from the previous week of shooting, whilst also planning ahead for what I was going to do next. I began by uploading the raw footage from the SD card on the camera to my computer. Once this was completed, I opened Adobe Premiere CS3 and made new bins for the clips to be placed into. However, as I was doing this I realised that some of the clips were shot at different frame sizes, and in order to correct this error I had to right click on the footage and select the option "interpret footage". From this menu, I chose to put all of the footage into the 'HD Anamorphic" setting so that all of the footage would fit into the 16:9 widescreen setting that I had chosen. Although this took more time to do, I believe that the successful contingency planning that I set aside allowed me to do this whilst still remaining on course to complete the overall task.

Week Sixteen

Week Sixteen

This week I began filming my music video on the Canon 550D's which were supplied by my school along with the tripod so that I could acquire the steady shots that were needed for certain scenes in my music video even though the majority of clips would be handheld in order to conform to the generic shots used in the indie genre; whilst also keeping the speed of the music video. Furthermore, I found that there was trouble with arranging when all of my actors would be free due to their other commitments, and this then highlighted to me that I would have to plan more precisely in the future.

Week Fifteen

Week Fifteen

This week I have done some tests shoots of the locations that I am planning to use and have taken photos of the area. These images and videos will be up on my blog very soon, and you too can get the idea of where I am going to be filming some of my video. Additionally, I have been continuing with the planning for my project and have completed tasks such as the costume planning and the timeline for my video. These are all equally important as they have given me a narrow-headed view towards the overall goal and made it easier for me when creating the actual tasks.
     Alternatively, I have also taken images that will be used in my digipak. Today, I then finished my front cover of my digipak on Photoshop CS3 and did this by uploading the image, adding filters and then adding text. Overall, I am happy with the digipak so far and will continue to look back over the creation and see where I can make changes so that I can attain the highest mark possible.

Week Fourteen

Week Fourteen

This week I took a break from the creation of my digipak and instead completed the research task of analysing existing digipaks. I am of the opinion that this task has been a vital part in helping me generate an idea for my own digipak as it has taught me what conventions are common towards which genre, and what you can do in order to subvert the genre and therefore make the digipak more appealing. I looked at two contrasting genres and what differences and similarities they had, and if both of them were successful.

Week Thirteen

Week Thirteen

The design which would go over the CD in my digipak was the next part of my digipak which I was going to design and for this I chose to create the face of the clock with a wooden background around the outside to give it a homely and more relatable theme. I started by getting an image of a clock face off of the internet and as a result of this I knew that I had to warp and edit the picture enough so that it could not be recognised as the original image and was instead my own. I started by creating a wooden background. This was done by drawing a rectangle with the shape tool and then applying a filter over the top of the shape so that it made it look like a wooden floor. Once this was done, I took the image of the clock and cut out the hands as I wanted to make it seem that they were moving very quickly. I achieved this effect by duplicating the image many times and rotating the hands so that they were at different hours on the clock. After this, I adding a shadow and added a motion blend onto the images to make it appear as if they were moving very quickly. The final touch was to add my filtered cloud effect into the shape which I had created in previous weeks to make it visually pleasing. This can all be seen in my CamTasia below which reflects what it is currently looking like.

Week Twelve

Week Twelve

Over the last week I have continued with my digipak and started generating the inside of my digipak with the theme that I had decided on; which was the theme of a clock. I selected this idea due to the fact that the album is called ‘The Lateness of the Hour’ and this therefore has a strong relation to the theme of time due to the common connotations of the noun ‘hour’. I started this task by creating cogs, as these are what will be going underneath the CD which will be designed as a clock and ultimately give the digipak a realistic feel but also being visually pleasing. The cogs where created by drawing a circle with the ellipsis shape tool, and then cutting shapes out of the edge with a shape that I created with the pen tool. This meant that all of the shapes around the edge remained even and of the same size. Although, there was the issue of it being very time consuming when piecing the duplicated cogs together when it was completed and I only got very little of this done after I had finished the first cog itself.

Week Eleven

Week Eleven

This week I started my digipak on adobe photoshop CS3. I began by starting a fresh, blank canvas which was of the dimensions 12 cm by 12cm as this is generally the size of all digipaks. However, before I started designing the actual digipak I took roughly half an hour to just experiment and try and remember my skills which I had picked up on CS3 from last year when I created a magazine as I knew that I could carry some of the skills over to this year when creating the likes of a digipak and a magazine advert. In this time, I played around with different kinds of filters and the different types of hue, saturation and brightness. From tinkering around with different tools in this time I created- what I believed- a successful, creative and intriguing spiral like cloud image that could possibly be used in my digipak. This task was useful as it has refreshed my memory of how to use Photoshop CS3 which is going to be a key feature for the forth coming weeks where I am going to be using it a lot more.

Week Ten.

Week Ten

This week I took on two tasks and set myself a deadline to finish them by. I chose the tasks of: What is a digipak and Influences of music style. I believe that working to a deadline is a more efficient and effective way of working for me as it gives me motivation for when to be finished time. 

     I started by looking at digipaks and looked into the common conventions of a digipak. From this, I denoted that digipaks were more interactional and a physical copy of the music that they enjoy. I then wrote a script to what I wanted to say and used 'Voki' a new online programme which allows avatars to be created and make a graphic to what you wanted to say.  I did this to add some variation to my design of posts and also to test the new programme. 

     Finally, I looked at the influences of music styles and how my genre has affected society and vice versa. I then wrote a script but this time for myself, and then recorded my monologue of analysis on a Dictaphone. Once this had been done, I put the voice over onto Adobe Premiere and downloaded a music video which represented the genre well. From this, I then added titles and transitions to the video in order to make it flow better and ultimately visually pleasing. I feel as though this week I have worked well and I am now well along my way of completing all of the research tasks in the near future.

Week Nine.

Week Nine

This week I started the task of what are the influences of the genre and what impacts it has had on society and the way in which we live, but also the way people lead their lives who follow the genre. I started by writing a short analysis of the genre on Microsoft Word and once this was complete, I used a dictaphone to record myself speaking the short essay. I did this as I wanted to create a video for this task on Adobe Premiere CS3 as this will add a variation to the tasks that I have done recently. I began by converting a YouTube clip of a music video that I wanted playing whilst I was doing the voiceover, and I then importaed this to the task. I am currently half way through and have used trasitions, titles and fades throughout the task. I will have finished this task by next week and feel that it has been useful in developing and refreshing my memory with Premiere as I will be using this software a lot when it comes to the editing of my video.

Week Eight.

Week Eight

This week I continued with the planning part of my project and started by analysing the lyrics to the song which I am going to create a video for. This task has given me a closer relationship with the song and has ultimately gifted me with a greater understanding of what the song means, and what it represents. I therefore believe this task to have been useful as it has given me ideas because of the lyrics, and how I can match the lyrics to the visuals. This task was a relatively quick task, and I then moved on to creating a moodboard for the genre in which I am creating a music video for. In this, I included images that are common to the genre and also of artists who are popular at the moment, but also similar to my selected artist. This task has highlighted what props the audience will be expecting to be in the video, and how I can build a relationship with the audience just by the simple items which I include.

Week Seven.

Week Seven

This week I looked at the theories for music videos and in particular Andrew Goodwin and how he stated that every music video has similar conventions, and overall targets which they hope to achieve. From this research, I feel that I have gained a great deal of knowledge about how to analyse videos but I have also learned what I will need to include in order to adhere to his ideas about music videos and I believe that if I match these common conventions and techniques; my video will be successful.
     Finally this week, I also started the planning stages of my project and started by stating my initial plans for the overall task. I did this on Prezi as it would allow me to clearly layout each section and present it in an easily viewable way. My initial planning ideas are a key point in the planning section as it gives me an idea of where I am at now and where I want to take my video in the future and what I will need to do in order to get it there. I will then have to keep referring back to my inital plan to denote how my ideas have changed and what I need to do next so that I keep on task.

Week Six.

I looked at videos this week which are from the same genre which are effective, memorable and successful. Each of these videos achieved this in different ways and have different conventions and techniques in doing so.
    I looked at certain techniques in the videos and wondered if I could recreate these scenes in my video. As a result of this I believe that this task was very useful as it set aside which skills are effective and what I will need to do in order to create them. However, it also highlighted what conventions are realistically achievable and can be recreated. This then narrowed down the ideas for my video.

Week Five.

Week Four.

Week Three.

During this week I decided to look at the history of music videos, and how they have changed over the years from the day the first videos were aired until the present day. I looked at the four major influences and events which have influenced music videos and what impact they have had on the music industry as a whole.
           I started by looking at the beginning of music videos and ultimately the first ever music video to be produced: 'Video Killed the Radio-star' by The Buggles. From this video, I then acknowledged what affect it had on music videos as a whole. I came to the conclusion that the video initiated a proliferation in in music videos and also an audience demand for more. Also the video was brought out during the eighties, and this was a time where technology was advancing quick and from this I could see why videos from artists such as Adam Ant and Duran Duran were rapidly becoming so visually pleasing.
          Next, I looked at MTV and what the creation of this television programme did for music videos. I believe that MTV has revolutionised the world and not only the music industry because of the fact that it has been monumental in the sharing and the 'boom' behind music videos but also because it has changed the way we receive our media and the purpose of television and music videos. Today MTV is so vast that it has a channel for each genre to broadcast this videos. From this task, I have learned how MTV has adapted the reason and way we make and view music videos. Similarly, I looked at YouTube and what effect this has had on music videos in today's world. I think that YouTube is the biggest factor and impact on music videos because of the way that it has changed the way we use the internet and also because it has given the power to the people so that they can now view their own videos whenever they want in whatever order they want and it is no longer and video jockeys job.
           To conclude, I made a judgement on what I think will happen in the future based on the knowledge that I developed from completing this task. As a whole, I believe this task to be very useful to my overall project because of the fact that the music video that I will create would be shared and viewed on these channels.
     
         

Week Two.

This week in media studies, I continued with the research stage of my production. At first, I continued with the task from last week (analysis of music videos I admire) which was almost complete, but I still had to render the video and export it onto my blog. I completed this quickly through Adobe Priemere and then moved onto my next task of research into record labels.
       This task was mostly copying facts and statistics than being creative, however it was still very time consuming due to the fact that there was so much information to take down. I felt that the best place to start was in the 'big four' record labels as they owned the majority of the market and therefore had the most power. From these, I then selected to look at the first three which were Universal, Sony and Independent labels. I believe that this task has helped a lot due to the fact that it has built my knowledge of how the music industry works and who are the most dominant forces inside the market. This task has also helped me to realise that the music industry is very similar to film, although there are six main companies in the film market as opposed to four in music.

Week One.