tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60912092772492388742024-03-13T17:59:45.623+00:00HM Media Blog II~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-90456121704229494162013-05-06T18:13:00.003+01:002013-05-06T18:13:57.971+01:00Evaluation - "How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?"As you're aware, over the course of the year I've worked on three separate materials for my artist: a music video, a digipak album design, and a promotional poster. Ideally, they should all work together to promote the artist's music and increase sales. Let's see how this has worked out...<br />
<br />
Over the course of production, I've made a point of developing recurring motifs across the three pieces. What am I on about? I've put together a little presentation to show you. <strike>(Using Google Drive this time as I don't have PowerPoint on my computer at home; it's slightly more annoying than PowerPoint as fewer things are assigned to keyboard shortcuts, but at least its output is a bit prettier)</strike>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="389" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OUzBwceKR-XCfg0DhPKnTbS4FlK_A7XxusHMKCaH3sA/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe></div>
<br />
So "why is this important?" is the question indeed. The answer comes now, as I feel the need:<br />
<ul>
<li>Star Image</li>
<li>Branding</li>
</ul>
<u>Star Image</u><br />
<br />
Star images are a kind of ideal. To quote Richard Dyer -<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"A star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed out of a range of materials"</i></blockquote>
Ideals sell. Therefore it makes sense to reinforce this ideal star image whenever the chance is there, through the use of recurring motifs. The "range of materials" in this case refers to the three works - the video, digipak and poster. All three of them are working together to construct the image.<br />
<br />
This ideological star image is hugely marketable, as audiences create a demand for fantasy images. This relates to one of Dyer's other theories, the utopia theory. This theory suggests that audiences look for the pieces of 'fiction' portrayed by the artist as an escape from their bland or unfavourable reality. Whilst my artist's imagery doesn't meet the Disneyficated happy-go-lucky utopia most people would associate with the theory upon looking into it for the first time, it -does- conform to an extent as Dark Flame's imagery is angsty, thus cool - something which many teenagers desire. This means that Dark Flame's star image has been successfully developed to appeal to an audience.<br />
<br />
<u>Branding</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
I think I'll also explain this from a slightly different approach. I'm going to be explaining this part using my own logic, rather than referencing a theorist. Let's see how this turns out...<br />
<br />
Artists need to create their own recognisable brand, in the same manner as companies who produce goods. Here is an analogy for the sake of example:<br />
<br />
Let's say we have a guy called... erm... let's call him Metal Overlord 3000. As well as having the world's coolest parents, Metal Overlord 3000 quite enjoys Cadbury's chocolate. Due to the consistent motifs which reoccur across both the packaging of Cadbury's chocolate bars, and the Cadbury print and television adverts, Metal Overlord 3000 is now hugely familiar with the Cadbury logo and the purple colour scheme. Whenever he walks into a shop, the Cadbury chocolate bars will jump out to him, because they are something which he instantly recognises - which will make him consider buying them. This effect will also reoccur if Cadbury launch a new chocolate bar which again reuses these motifs on its packaging.<br />
<br />
Now, back to the music industry. Let's say that Metal Overlord 3000 sees and enjoys Dark Flame's <i>I Am... All of Me</i> music video online. Let's say he also sees the poster in his local record shop. He will become familiar with the greyscale presence, Dark Flame's face and the logo. Because of this, upon passing the shelf with the album on it, this familiarity will kick in which will prompt him to check it out and hopefully buy it.<br />
<br />
I personally think that thanks to the recurring motifs I've employed throughout my productions, I have been successful in producing a brand for my artist which would be recognisable.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-57091370326861646782013-05-05T13:37:00.000+01:002013-05-14T09:00:47.402+01:00Evaluation - "What have you learned from your audience feedback?"Over the course of researching and producing my work, I've taken feedback from potential audience members (read: consumers. People who would be giving me money.) on a number of occasions.<br />
<br />
During the research phase, I gained feedback from potential audience members on what they expect to see in music videos. At first, I went with a fairly generic <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/audience-research-initial-survey.html" target="_blank">survey on Polldaddy</a>, with responses including the following:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7uGD2AnpKYo/T-4ebpm28xI/AAAAAAAAAXI/F-EPdpnT1L0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-06-29+at+22.29.14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7uGD2AnpKYo/T-4ebpm28xI/AAAAAAAAAXI/F-EPdpnT1L0/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-06-29+at+22.29.14.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jtoGW9_L9XI/T-4gh-QMcwI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/G44m-Zeeea0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-06-29+at+22.38.51.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="97" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jtoGW9_L9XI/T-4gh-QMcwI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/G44m-Zeeea0/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-06-29+at+22.38.51.png" width="400" /></a></div>
This shows that most of the people I'd asked here said they preferred storyline-driven videos, and weren't particularly bothered by the tone of the video.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned in <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/audience-research-rock-video-feedback.html" target="_blank">my later research</a>, I was pretty skeptical about whether these findings were representative of my true target audience - and this is mainly because I'd originally asked anyone who felt like answering, as opposed to going out of my way to find people who are fans of the rock genre. I got some more specific feedback, including that below. One of the main things I learned from this is that rock fans like seeing the artist performing -<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-09ZjlMM2vC4/UXLODEPcaWI/AAAAAAAABDY/ZA6IxaaiB_4/s1600/rockq2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="8" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-09ZjlMM2vC4/UXLODEPcaWI/AAAAAAAABDY/ZA6IxaaiB_4/s320/rockq2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Z_8duuRNKg/UXLMuM8lsbI/AAAAAAAABDQ/NhiYQQppo7Q/s1600/rockq1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="8" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Z_8duuRNKg/UXLMuM8lsbI/AAAAAAAABDQ/NhiYQQppo7Q/s320/rockq1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This was interesting to me as it contrasted the feedback I'd previously received; from this I saw that in order to market successfully to fans of rock music, my video had to have a heavy focus on my artist performing the song. This was actually a vital influence on the shaping of my video - originally I had intended to have <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/i-am-all-of-me-video-concept.html" target="_blank">quite a strong narrative focus</a> during my early planning stages, but over time it became more apparent that this wouldn't be what my audience would want, so it made sense to strip the narrative elements down a lot.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZojUqM0YikQ/UXLQXNUGtsI/AAAAAAAABDo/63fmbdqzMW4/s1600/rockq4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="6" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZojUqM0YikQ/UXLQXNUGtsI/AAAAAAAABDo/63fmbdqzMW4/s320/rockq4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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This piece of feedback was also a big pushing point in terms of my video's direction; in the first survey a lot of people weren't bothered by a video's tone, yet the rock fan said that they like a more mature tone, which is why I decided to shy away from using too much bright, lively imagery.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
What other source of audience feedback have I made use of? The answer is, of course, my wonderful media class. Early on in the year, before I'd started producing any material for the video, I talked my classmates through the concept I had at the time, as you can see here:<br />
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2B8CZCc_eeY?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
Whilst the concept I mention here was fairly different to what eventually happened in the final production (for reasons I've discussed over the last few posts), it meant my class were aware of the song I was using and the general idea of what I was going for, so they were able to give me input as I was going along, especially in the editing phase. This was actually a perfectly ideal scenario - as I established early on in the project, my target audience for the product are older teenagers and young adults - and I'm working in a room with 17-18 year olds, meaning I'm receiving feedback and creative input from members of my target audience. It's also been especially useful in a practical sense - as they've been in the same room as me, I've been able to play the work in progress to them locally and get feedback right away; if I were to ask for feedback from other people I would have to have gone through the process of exporting a draft and uploading it somewhere, which when you have not-so-great RAM and a slow internet connection, is the very definition of tedium.<br />
<br />
Some of the features of my video which were added/changed as per feedback from classmates include:<br />
<ul>
<li>longer strobe takes - when I first started putting the strobe transitions in, they were only about half as long as they are now; as some of my class members pointed out, because parts of those shots were completely black, at times it wasn't clear that it was supposed to be a strobe light effect and it just looked like the video had skipped.</li>
<li>variety of shots - another piece of feedback I received was that there weren't that many different kinds of shots during the performance sections which made it look a bit bland. Because of this, I got Sir to help me film some additional shots, like the extreme close-up of my face, and the shot of my guitar.</li>
</ul>
<div>
In addition to this, I also asked Sir to give me some written feedback, which I analysed <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/production-update-9-initial-feedback.html" target="_blank">here</a>. This feedback taught me that in order to engage the audience, I should have a smoother introduction to the video.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<hr />
<br />
In terms of the ancillary tasks, my main source of feedback was again my class. Let's start off with the digipak -<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t18K2tw3NII/UTi2An1EZKI/AAAAAAAABCk/eCnDMoKy7eY/s1600/Cover_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t18K2tw3NII/UTi2An1EZKI/AAAAAAAABCk/eCnDMoKy7eY/s200/Cover_Concept.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BiEecOE_Qbg/UTi2BecFc7I/AAAAAAAABCo/JLly6I5bHG4/s1600/Background_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BiEecOE_Qbg/UTi2BecFc7I/AAAAAAAABCo/JLly6I5bHG4/s200/Background_Concept.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
These are my first drafts, which, when presented to some of my class members, received some positive feedback, however it did seem to be of the "it's okay, I guess" variety. This, to an extent, supports my findings that perhaps this style of cover is a <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/ancillary-production-revised-frontback.html" target="_blank">tad overused and therefore unable to stand out</a> - they weren't exactly going to be blown away by a cover they've seen several thousand times before, are they? This, tied with my findings on the album chart, prompted me to add some brush textures to make it more interesting:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-72KstNVf35o/UXkPIAokRwI/AAAAAAAABEI/gTUfGoxskko/s1600/Cover_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-72KstNVf35o/UXkPIAokRwI/AAAAAAAABEI/gTUfGoxskko/s200/Cover_Concept.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6EfUb2qFSfQ/UXkfJ0XawWI/AAAAAAAABFI/1KC4qdhvI7Q/s1600/Back_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6EfUb2qFSfQ/UXkfJ0XawWI/AAAAAAAABFI/1KC4qdhvI7Q/s200/Back_Concept.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
I decided to run these revised designs past my classmates again to see how they reacted to them, and I got a different kind of response - the "it's okay, I guess" had evolved into a more vocal "that looks really good". Because of this, I decided I'd continue using these texture effects across the rest of the panels...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2FhhSLYGzE/UYQTfwJVYcI/AAAAAAAABIw/1QAfM-ZXCKY/s1600/INSIDE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2FhhSLYGzE/UYQTfwJVYcI/AAAAAAAABIw/1QAfM-ZXCKY/s320/INSIDE.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SVmtfPF9JOw/UYQTgQ9LkFI/AAAAAAAABI4/mHdAEpfcmaI/s1600/OUTSIDE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SVmtfPF9JOw/UYQTgQ9LkFI/AAAAAAAABI4/mHdAEpfcmaI/s320/OUTSIDE.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
...which worked, because it was met with a "that looks really cool!" (thanks Ben!). I think that the continued peer input really helped me win this one...<br />
<br />
I also kept this feedback in mind when designing the promotional poster as well - as the texture effects were obviously successful, I used a similar effect on the poster (though not the -exact- same effect, to avoid redundancy from the digipak's cover also being there, as I mentioned elsewhere).<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4qqMk0ST4Ac/UYJBdqttKdI/AAAAAAAABH4/N-QiztzWdvM/s1600/MasterPosterDeux.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4qqMk0ST4Ac/UYJBdqttKdI/AAAAAAAABH4/N-QiztzWdvM/s320/MasterPosterDeux.png" width="226" /></a></div>
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This again received the "it looks cool" feedback, so I then decided it had achieved its goal.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-54357548282390341912013-05-04T11:47:00.004+01:002013-05-04T11:47:57.330+01:00The Everything PostFor the sake of making it easier to find all the final productions should you wish to, without all of my development notes.<br />
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Music Video:<br />
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<hr />
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Digipak:
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Inside</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SVmtfPF9JOw/UYQTgQ9LkFI/AAAAAAAABI4/mHdAEpfcmaI/s1600/OUTSIDE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SVmtfPF9JOw/UYQTgQ9LkFI/AAAAAAAABI4/mHdAEpfcmaI/s320/OUTSIDE.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Outside</div>
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<hr />
Promotional Poster:<br />
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<br />~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-62818570267227065512013-05-04T11:44:00.003+01:002013-05-04T11:45:18.014+01:00Production Update 11 - I Am... A Final Video<div style="text-align: center;">
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Apologies that this has taken so long to get uploaded; I managed to leave my memory stick in school during the week so I didn't have the file to upload at home. D'oh.<br />
<br />
In terms of the changes: most revolve around fixing up the minor syncing issues I mentioned in the post for the previous draft, so sadly nothing too exciting. I have, however, changed the ending using a Gaussian Blur filter, with a couple of flickers - to a) reinforce the "disjoined" feel and b) so it feels more like an ending, rather than having a sudden finish.<br />
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Enjoy! Or something.<br />
<br />
-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-8815296777118877882013-05-02T09:17:00.000+01:002013-05-04T11:37:33.039+01:00Evaluation - "How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?"Throughout the course of putting together my productions, I've relied on a wide variety of different pieces of technology. This has been a consistent feature of production, and I've made use of lots of pieces of hardware and software at every single step, from the early research to showing off the final products. In this post I am going to cover everything which has been beneficial to me during this year.<br />
<br />
First up is the hardware.<br />
<br />
<u>Apple iMac</u><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cA0Qq0MnswM/UTikVIpT1EI/AAAAAAAABB4/3f2onrxpHd4/s1600/DSC_0706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cA0Qq0MnswM/UTikVIpT1EI/AAAAAAAABB4/3f2onrxpHd4/s400/DSC_0706.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This has pretty much been the main base throughout most of the project; specifically the video production.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Supports Final Cut Pro 7 (more on that later) which I've used to actually put the video together.</li>
<li>Has an internet browser (Safari); necessary for research.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<u>Sony Bloggies</u></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NonSiMWmjww/T6KXVXeLSlI/AAAAAAAAAPY/l-whOvxXd0k/s1600/thedamncamera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NonSiMWmjww/T6KXVXeLSlI/AAAAAAAAAPY/l-whOvxXd0k/s320/thedamncamera.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>As I have had access to my own one of these I used this for filming the outside narrative parts of the music video. It has a reasonably decent picture quality for these parts.</li>
<li>I had initially attempted using these to film the performance shots, however they<a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/production-update-6-performance-filming.html" target="_blank"> didn't seem to cope too well with the darkness</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Nikon SRL Cameras</u></div>
<div>
<u><br /></u></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofTQGDY2TQI/UTikZ6CpFVI/AAAAAAAABCI/UMTdA8gADaU/s1600/DSC_0705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ofTQGDY2TQI/UTikZ6CpFVI/AAAAAAAABCI/UMTdA8gADaU/s320/DSC_0705.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The better, more expensive cameras which were available.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>As I didn't have the opportunity to take these away from the school grounds, I wasn't able to use them for the outside shots... but they were great for the performance parts of the video. During the stationary shots they were attached to tripods, and for the moving shots, I had Sir run around with one (quite literally with the "crazycam" shots...). </li>
<li>They can also take high resolution still photographs, so I had Sir take the <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/digipak-production-1-album-cover.html" target="_blank">photograph which I'd use on my digipak and promotional poster</a> with one.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<hr />
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As for software...<br />
<br />
<u>Final Cut Pro 7</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zIkQ-iwq494/UYJ5jd3bXII/AAAAAAAABII/kwnmsic2AD0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-02+at+15.33.42.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zIkQ-iwq494/UYJ5jd3bXII/AAAAAAAABII/kwnmsic2AD0/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-05-02+at+15.33.42.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<u><br /></u>
This has been the base for everything in terms of putting the music video together in post-production. It has quite a significant number of different parts which I've employed throughout the entire process -<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>File management: all the videoclips I've imported are easily accessible in the Browser (and playable in the Viewer), which made the process of critically analysing each shot to determine whether it is usable much easier.</li>
<li>The Canvas has let me play the video through as I was working, which let me see what I was doing. This is typically a pretty useful thing. The slight drawback with this is that at times it can be a bit laggy (which I put down to the presumably not-so-great RAM on the Mac; unfortunately I can't check the exact specs because the permissions won't allow me to. My nerd self is disappointed...) which makes it particularly difficult to accurately sync up the visuals (my lip-syncing) to the audio. This means that I've had to resort to ultra precise editing when zoomed in to the track to sync the two (otherwise known as the "left a bit, right a bit" method), and I'm still not convinced that everything is perfect because of this.</li>
<li>The Timeline is where the main magic happens... or something. This is where I've put everything together - as you can see from the screenshot, I've used what some would see as an unconventional timeline management system by piling several of clips on top of each other as opposed to just using a main track and a few overlay tracks - but there is logic behind this. This was in fact to try and work around my syncing problems - I got all of the main performance takes as close in sync as was possible (I stress the "as possible", my lip-syncing isn't perfect, which is another reason why I had to resort to the previously mentioned "left a bit, right a bit" technique") and used the Razor Blade tool to cut the clips to shape.</li>
</ul>
<div>
On top of just using the main parts of the application which are handed to you on a plate, I dug a bit deeper and made use of some other tools...</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U3QJX_ksuzg/UYTTAEg6THI/AAAAAAAABJI/fuSEKUced10/s1600/colourcorrection.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U3QJX_ksuzg/UYTTAEg6THI/AAAAAAAABJI/fuSEKUced10/s320/colourcorrection.png" width="320" /></a>
<li>Image+Wireframe: some of the shots needed a bit of cropping - one of the performance takes which was otherwise a good take had a bit of an unwanted door in the shot over to the right; I used the Wireframe to zoom in so this is out of view. I also used the zoom to give a bit more variety in how close to my face the camera appears to be - which to an extent followed Sir's suggestion of making the production "more crazy".</li>
<li>Colour Correction: Most of my video is in greyscale, because DARK and EDGY = cool. For the sake of making the greyscale effect, I just reduced the saturation to the absolute lowest - though FCP's Colour Correction tool can also adjust the balance of the blacks and whites, which I've deliberately tampered with from shot to shot as an additional little touch to support the whole dark vs. light concept.</li>
<li>Gaussian Blur: Tied with some stock fade transitions to make that cool little flicker blur to nothing effect at the very end of the video.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<u>MPEGStreamClip</u></div>
</div>
<div>
<u><br /></u></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5E_UDgDH_VE/UYTT7gvXQ1I/AAAAAAAABJU/6XZmcrRv640/s1600/mpegstreamclip.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5E_UDgDH_VE/UYTT7gvXQ1I/AAAAAAAABJU/6XZmcrRv640/s320/mpegstreamclip.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<u><br /></u></div>
<div>
This, at first, looks like a basic media player, akin to QuickTime or Windows Media Player; but it has an incredibly useful function which I discovered when working on personal projects about a year or so ago - it can be used for converting and compressing video files. I've used it to convert the .mov output files from FCP into .mp4 files - I've found .mp4 files typically have lower file sizes whilst still being of a decent quality - so I've used it whenever I've had either a draft or some kind of video to post on this blog, so I didn't have to wait a decade for the thing to upload.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Adobe Photoshop CS6</u></div>
<div>
<u><br /></u></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bkQapFS8JZw/UYTZ9ZbSj6I/AAAAAAAABJs/zaFI2DRIbAU/s1600/errybodysuperphotoshoppin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bkQapFS8JZw/UYTZ9ZbSj6I/AAAAAAAABJs/zaFI2DRIbAU/s320/errybodysuperphotoshoppin.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
(Photo from elsewhere because I'm not using a computer with PS installed right now to screenshot for myself. I would link to the site for the sake of attribution, but said site appeared to be teaching others how to go about pirating the software, and that's <i>no good</i>...)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Used for the creation of both the digipak design, and the poster design. I've covered more specifics into how I used the software for the poster in the video <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/ancillary-production-lets-play-photoshop.html" target="_blank">here</a>, but I should clarify that I used similar techniques for the digipak production as well. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I used Photoshop because a) I've been using it for years for different things and so I sort-of have an idea of what I'm doing and b) it's a pretty powerful piece of software with a lot of editing options.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Microsoft PowerPoint</u></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ReMrtk22i6Y/UYTbssE232I/AAAAAAAABKA/mW7GQ3FKj70/s1600/powerpoint.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ReMrtk22i6Y/UYTbssE232I/AAAAAAAABKA/mW7GQ3FKj70/s320/powerpoint.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm going to be honest - I don't like PowerPoint in the slightest because it has a hideous UI and I have to look at one of the things every time someone wants to present anything, but I will grudgingly admit that it can be beneficial in some very specific situations (by which I mean laying things out in bullet point format with the odd picture). Hence why some of the blog posts here have PowerPoint embeds.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<hr />
<br />
I've taken advantage of this by using social media to gain input from potential future audience members as to what they want to see in productions, for the sake of research...<br />
<br />
<u>Web forums</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
As seen when I conducted <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/audience-research-rock-video-feedback.html" target="_blank">early research into fans of the rock genre</a>, web forums can be useful for collecting feedback from specific audiences - this is because most forums revolve entirely around specific areas of interest, and in this case I was able to ask the members of two music-oriented forums for their opinions.<br />
<br />
<u>Social networking (e.g. Facebook/Twitter)</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ns-EKhX83AE/UYTg9iE6AmI/AAAAAAAABKQ/n9kA1qPk9F0/s1600/facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ns-EKhX83AE/UYTg9iE6AmI/AAAAAAAABKQ/n9kA1qPk9F0/s200/facebook.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HcHlRJuDZbg/UYTg9vU2u6I/AAAAAAAABKU/3_MtaePmfT8/s1600/twitter-file-670.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="104" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HcHlRJuDZbg/UYTg9vU2u6I/AAAAAAAABKU/3_MtaePmfT8/s200/twitter-file-670.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<u><br /></u>
<u><br /></u>
We're at a point now where practically everyone in western society uses a social networking site of some kind, and if we ignore the fact that a great deal of what you see on them consists of invites to play stupid Flash games and fifteen year olds going on about how they want to go out and get drunk, they can be pretty useful tools for asking your friends for their opinions on different factors which help shape a production. They were also useful for promoting polls (see below) as I could prompt people I know to go and fill them out.<br />
<br />
<u>Polldaddy</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
Polls and surveys can be pretty useful for getting generalised overviews of people's opinions, and Polldaddy is a particularly great way of doing this as it gives good numerical breakdowns of the responses gathered, as we can see to a degree <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/audience-research-initial-survey.html" target="_blank">here</a>.
<br />
<br />
<u>YouTube</u><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cCRaumpZ434/T6Ks87FsNSI/AAAAAAAAAPw/QDsjXUEXcKo/s1600/thatsitefulloftwelveyearoldsplayingnirvanaonoutoftunestratocasters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cCRaumpZ434/T6Ks87FsNSI/AAAAAAAAAPw/QDsjXUEXcKo/s200/thatsitefulloftwelveyearoldsplayingnirvanaonoutoftunestratocasters.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Over the course of production, I've been able to upload my drafts as a kind of production log, as well as upload other videos (such as my Photoshop poster video) explaining how I've done certain things. We may moan about YouTube whenever they change the layout etc., but at the end of the day, it's a very useful site for sharing videos.<br />
<br />
<u>Blogger</u><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CPspvquefOI/T6Ks934jdGI/AAAAAAAAAP4/7Vl4sJTt0Zo/s1600/blogon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CPspvquefOI/T6Ks934jdGI/AAAAAAAAAP4/7Vl4sJTt0Zo/s200/blogon.png" width="200" /></a></div>
This really goes without saying, given that you're reading this on a blog which is hosted on Blogger, but I've made use of it to document my progress on both the music video and the ancillary tasks. I've also been able to <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/production-update-9-initial-feedback.html" target="_blank">get feedback on my work</a>, as Blogger has a comments function.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
So, ahem, I didn't realise this post would be so long. Eh. I hope it has filled your minds with plenty of informatively informative information about the ways in which I've made use of technology throughout the project.<br />
<br />
-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-56444079647599457982013-05-01T15:09:00.000+01:002013-05-02T15:28:52.575+01:00Evaluation - "In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?"Here we go again... It's evaluating time! /Cilan<br />
<br />
Throughout the entire process of creating the music video, digipak and and promotional poster one of the main objectives has been to make my artist, Dark Flame, marketable to an audience. I decided upon the rock genre, which meant my potential audience would be rock fans. Because of this, it was necessary to look at then conventions of existing rock artists to get an idea of what traits make them appealing to this audience.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Music Video</u></b><br />
<br />
One of the first things I did once I'd decided on the genre I was going to use was to look at the kinds of things I <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/personal-music-video-analysis-positive.html" target="_blank">like</a> and <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/personal-music-video-analysis-negative.html" target="_blank">dislike</a> in music videos. This is because I am personally a fan of the rock genre, and so although this was very much a rough, sketchbook method of research meaning I took my opinionated "findings" with a grain of salt, I thought it might be a good idea to pick apart videos I like to see what kinds of notable traits pop up.<br />
<br />
The main things I noted are that I like easily recognisable imagery, such as the shot of the Queen band members miming the opening of <i>Bohemian Rhapsody</i> -<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYRBgyiEy3o/UW_1F6yd6lI/AAAAAAAABC4/x-10ygB_br4/s1600/bohemianrhapsody.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYRBgyiEy3o/UW_1F6yd6lI/AAAAAAAABC4/x-10ygB_br4/s1600/bohemianrhapsody.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
-as well as that I like the simplistic performance elements of Hardline's <i>Fever Dreams</i> video.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oE8v9k8mqSA/UW_1FyOkJKI/AAAAAAAABC0/NbtSi_pcg3g/s1600/feverdreams.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oE8v9k8mqSA/UW_1FyOkJKI/AAAAAAAABC0/NbtSi_pcg3g/s1600/feverdreams.png" /></a></div>
<br />
After this, I did some more research into rock videos, and found that some of the elements I'd noted were recurring features, making them conventions of rock videos. I'll explore those more in the PowerPoint below.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/20398388" width="476"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
(Thanks Slideshare, you old pal...).<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Album Cover/Digipak</u></strong><br />
<br />
As my album is a rock album (no, I'm not going to go into the technicalities of how you could argue that <em>I Am... All of Me </em>might be on the rock/industrial metal borderline because of the tinny drum track) I made a point of looking at various other existing rock albums to see what recurring features appeared. I looked at various albums including <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/album-image-analysis-2nd-law-muse.html" target="_blank"><em>The 2nd Law</em> by Muse</a>, <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/digipak-analysis-one-pearl-handled.html" target="_blank"><em>One</em> by Pearl Handled Revolver</a>, <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/digipak-analysis-circle-of-oath-axel.html" target="_blank"><em>Circle of the Oath</em> by Axel Rudi Pell</a> and <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/digipak-analysis-band-on-run-2010-wings.html" target="_blank"><em>Band on the Run</em> by Wings</a>.<br />
<br />
From this research, I found a few notable features - one is that the imagery was usually quite dark, or in the case of both <em>The 2nd Law</em> and <em>Band on the Run</em> have a simple solid black background on the front cover.<br />
<br />
This simplistic background is a concept I originally intended to use back when I put together my <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/wip-digipak-covers.html" target="_blank">first drafts of the front and back cover</a>, however in this instance I decided it would be appropriate to deliberately go out of my way to subvert this convention for one reason (as I mentioned previously) - this being that I was looking at the album chart and I noticed that both Paramore and The Lumineers had an album out with a very similar artwork style. I then acknowledged that whilst having a similar cover would give rock fans a sense of familiarity, the album wouldn't stand out in a shop if there are two other albums which look practically the same. Because of this, I decided to maintain the general greyscale colour scheme (for the previously mentioned familiarity) but add some brush textures so it has its own unique aesthetical feel to it.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Promotional Poster</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
When albums come out, the label usually produces some kind of promotional poster for said album. These are the things you see in the window of record shops etc.. As with the music video and digipak, I took to the wonderful world of t'internets to find out more about existing posters.<br />
<br />
One thing which stood out to me, with both the <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/ancillary-production-poster-mk-ii.html" target="_blank">Axel Rudi Pell and Muse posters I looked at</a> is that the main basis of the posters' designs was in fact the album cover's artwork. This makes sense from a practical purpose, as it shows potential consumers what they are supposed to be buying. My poster does subvert this to a very small degree - I changed the kinds of brushes used to add texture. This was purely for the sake of making the poster look better - what looks okay on a small image can look a bit rough on a larger one, so I thought as the poster is also trying to gain attention, I would go out of my way to make it look better. The visual link already exists as I've used the same photograph and logo on both the digipak and poster, so I can't see the change being detrimental in any way.<br />
<br />
The other is that the name of the artist and of the album is shown right at the very top. My poster again conforms to this convention - and as with both of the posters I looked at, I've used the same typographical style in terms of both font and added visual effects; again, this gives a synoptic link between the poster and the album, showing people what is being marketed to them.<br />
<br />
-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-76681011674385089772013-04-30T11:33:00.000+01:002013-05-02T11:46:02.636+01:00Ancillary Production - Poster (Final Version)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4qqMk0ST4Ac/UYJBdqttKdI/AAAAAAAABH4/N-QiztzWdvM/s1600/MasterPosterDeux.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4qqMk0ST4Ac/UYJBdqttKdI/AAAAAAAABH4/N-QiztzWdvM/s400/MasterPosterDeux.png" width="282" /></a></div>
<br />
There. Done. Hopefully now I will never have to look at my ugly mug in Photoshop ever again. <br />
<br />
Changes since the previous version I went over in Photoshop yesterday:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The error with the logo (not being aligned properly at the right) has been fixed.</li>
<li>The font of the text at the bottom has been changed to be consistent with the text on the back of the digipak (OCR A Std). This a) looks prettier and b) helps develop imagery which is maintained across the brand. But you know that, because I've mentioned it god-knows how many times on this blog.</li>
<li>This text has also had its opacity lowered a tad, so it doesn't look quite so obnoxiously out of place. Simple blending at its finest.</li>
</ul>
So that's that finished. Huzzah.<br />
<br />
-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-59015381984176683912013-04-29T15:18:00.003+01:002013-04-29T15:20:17.421+01:00Ancillary Production - Let's Play Photoshop<div style="text-align: center;">
<object height="315" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mkefBnADThU?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mkefBnADThU?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
<strike>My Zero desktop is the best thing.</strike>~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-52555411549766697142013-04-16T23:50:00.000+01:002013-05-03T20:47:36.448+01:00Ancillary Production - Digipak Shell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2FhhSLYGzE/UYQTfwJVYcI/AAAAAAAABIs/T93bfQh7D7s/s1600/INSIDE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2FhhSLYGzE/UYQTfwJVYcI/AAAAAAAABIs/T93bfQh7D7s/s320/INSIDE.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Inside</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SVmtfPF9JOw/UYQTgQ9LkFI/AAAAAAAABI0/X5_SSMYMsD8/s1600/OUTSIDE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SVmtfPF9JOw/UYQTgQ9LkFI/AAAAAAAABI0/X5_SSMYMsD8/s320/OUTSIDE.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Outside</div>
<br />
Holy 3000x1000 .png files, Batman! I'm sure these will take their sweet time to load, but I wanted to show them at a nice high resolution. I think they look pretty. Except the ones with my face on.<br />
<br />
(Honestly, I've wrote about this digipak so many times now... I have no idea what else to put here...).<br />
<br />
-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-33613465241860487302013-04-16T16:28:00.000+01:002013-05-03T20:36:41.897+01:00Ancillary Production - Final panels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Oh dark, the darkness that dozes in the dusk...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KyATByEChkg/UYQQJ9WsAtI/AAAAAAAABIY/N3qScfRc6iE/s1600/Untitled-3flap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KyATByEChkg/UYQQJ9WsAtI/AAAAAAAABIY/N3qScfRc6iE/s400/Untitled-3flap.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The flap which will lay on top of the disc upon opening the digipak.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rpYait0K3YA/UYQQLuvCS9I/AAAAAAAABIg/LfYeZwh6ycY/s1600/Untitled-4+right.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rpYait0K3YA/UYQQLuvCS9I/AAAAAAAABIg/LfYeZwh6ycY/s400/Untitled-4+right.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The panel which will appear on the far right when the digipak is open.</div>
<br />
I could regurgitate what I've said already about the whole dark imagery/guitar motifs again, but I think I've made the whole "branding" and "imagery" points clear by this point. I'll get these all edited together tonight.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-86949866268055880292013-04-15T17:51:00.000+01:002013-04-27T22:22:56.152+01:00Ancillary Production - More panels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Left inside panel.</div>
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Centre inside panel with disc. (There would be a plastic holder here; this image is to show off the design side of things).</div>
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The left inside panel is meant to be the simple artwork-only panel (technically there will be more of these but this is the first one I've finished!). Not really much to say here other than that it features the reappearance of Dark Flame's signature Black Knight guitar, and some wonderfully edgy grunge-type brush textures going on (by the power of Overlay blending!). </div>
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As for the disc panel, it uses the close-up of the fretboard from my post yesterday; I figured it wasn't really worth using anything too flashy as it was going to be covered up by the disc. The disc art itself is one of the guitar stills with my face blended in. As the disc art isn't going to have much impact in terms of marketing, I thought my priority should be making it look cool; which I think I achieved in terms of the main visuals. The legal text not so much - I wanted it to curve with the disc so it didn't take up much space, but me and pathing aren't particularly good friends. Eh, it's kinda in place I guess.</div>
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-HM.</div>
~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-57245790903598584372013-04-14T20:04:00.000+01:002013-04-27T18:13:45.517+01:00Ancillary Production - The Knight of the Wind (Inside panel photography RAWs)Hey folks!<br />
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Last time I updated about the digipak, I mentioned I'd be putting some emphasis on the Black Knight for the inside panels of the digipak. I now have some photography to show off!<br />
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No, I was not under influence when I took these photos - they're at odd angles for a reason. I want to maintain the disjointed theme from the video within the digipak, for the sake of consistency. Not to mention that I think it'd be a nice touch.<br />
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This guitar is becoming a kind of motif associated with Dark Flame - Goodwin mentioned in his music video conventions theory that videos from artists tend to have recurring motifs; I've taken it a step further by featuring it across multiple pieces of promotional material.<br />
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Will get editing later on!~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-27805518867571770322013-04-13T15:03:00.000+01:002013-04-27T16:13:17.117+01:00Ancillary Production - Poster mk. iiAs I posted yesterday that I've updated the front and back covers of the digipak, I thought I'd show off how I've fixed up the poster a bit since the mockup post from a while back.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8hjJzpiUiT8/UXvdgMlMopI/AAAAAAAABFU/vpvFuJlNB5g/s1600/MasterPoster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8hjJzpiUiT8/UXvdgMlMopI/AAAAAAAABFU/vpvFuJlNB5g/s400/MasterPoster.png" width="282" /></a></div>
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I will note that this is not the absolute final version of the poster. The font used for the text at the bottom is purely placeholder; I intend to use the same font as used on the back of the digipak for the sake of consistency; I just don't have access to it on my computer at home. Also, I feel that I could do with a bit of colour correction on my face - it looks a tad too dark on (my) right side.<br />
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So - changes? Well, I've updated to the digipak PIP to the completed version - no-one likes having an obvious beta work sticking out on a final piece, do they? <strike>Unless it's Sonic '06 where the beta versions actually look more polished than the final product, but I digress.</strike> I've also made it a bit bigger, so the thing we want people to be buying is more prominent.<br />
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The big change (that stands out to me) is the brush texture in the background. Now, I -could- have just ripped the brush layers from the digipak .psd, but instead I decided to employ a technique which is actually rarely used in the music industry these days, which is known as "putting effort in", and making new layers using different brushes. My main reasoning for this is that whilst yes, it is a good idea to have a visual link between the different promotional materials (as I've mentioned ~9001 times on this blog...) I feel that this has been achieved already by using the same photo, logo and fonts - and on top of this, the digipak itself is present, so having the exact same image twice would be incredibly redundant.<br />
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Now, onto something else - "why is it so simplistic?", you may ask. Well, I've been looking at some professional posters, and from what I've seen, using content other than the album art and logos doesn't happen much. Fear not, people with a fear of text, here's some pretty pictures for you.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nKvZxsvmOBw/UXvnjS8Cq6I/AAAAAAAABFo/2Prs9emuTAI/s1600/ARP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nKvZxsvmOBw/UXvnjS8Cq6I/AAAAAAAABFo/2Prs9emuTAI/s400/ARP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A poster I actually own! Axel Rudi Pell's <i>Circle of the Oath </i>poster, pictured alongside the digipak for comparison. The poster is literally just the album art, with the logo and album name relocated to the top. I would take a guess and say that this is because the poster is a gift packaged within the album as opposed to one designed to be placed in shops etc., so the primary aim is to look cool (which it does).<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxTJeV65xE8/UXvni1wlndI/AAAAAAAABFk/ryP5cKYawds/s1600/muse-2nd-law-lp1611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxTJeV65xE8/UXvni1wlndI/AAAAAAAABFk/ryP5cKYawds/s640/muse-2nd-law-lp1611.jpg" width="425" /></a> </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f_hIyeuzDVI/UKZNVu9fVII/AAAAAAAAAyI/Xhr7RoKgBQw/s1600/muse_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f_hIyeuzDVI/UKZNVu9fVII/AAAAAAAAAyI/Xhr7RoKgBQw/s320/muse_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The poster for <i>The 2nd Law</i>, the Muse album for which I have previously analysed the album cover of. As with the ARP poster, this one too is just using the album art but moving the text to the top out of the way.<br />
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If anything, mine is actually much less simplistic than these two covers - my justification for this is that my poster is promoting a currently upcoming album as opposed to one which is already out, so it should be informative to potential consumers.<br />
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Final version to follow shortly.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-42189513958261010732013-04-12T12:09:00.000+01:002013-04-25T13:19:03.488+01:00Ancillary Production - Revised front/back covers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-72KstNVf35o/UXkPIAokRwI/AAAAAAAABEE/y-NGeEcB4lI/s1600/Cover_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-72KstNVf35o/UXkPIAokRwI/AAAAAAAABEE/y-NGeEcB4lI/s320/Cover_Concept.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6EfUb2qFSfQ/UXkfJ0XawWI/AAAAAAAABFI/1KC4qdhvI7Q/s1600/Back_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6EfUb2qFSfQ/UXkfJ0XawWI/AAAAAAAABFI/1KC4qdhvI7Q/s320/Back_Concept.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, here are the revised versions of the front and back digipak covers. I've made the changes I said I would in the <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/wip-digipak-covers.html" target="_blank">previous version's post</a>, but the more observant folks may have noticed some more updates.<br />
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Firstly, the institution information is now present - it references "Metallic Records"; get it, because metal? I am so funny. But in seriousness, it seems appropriate because it describes the kind of music they sell. There is also an anti-piracy warning. <strike>No copyright law in the universe is going to stop me!</strike><br />
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The more obvious of the changes? I've used some royalty free Photoshop brushes to add a bit of texture to both panels. Why?<br />
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Well, I was looking at the album chart earlier, and I noticed a bit of a trend:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8no1BhN8uXc/UXkUgXbNVfI/AAAAAAAABEk/hXUbx72FQfs/s1600/ParamoreParamore.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8no1BhN8uXc/UXkUgXbNVfI/AAAAAAAABEk/hXUbx72FQfs/s320/ParamoreParamore.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U4UOhUDXzxM/UXkUg9RitbI/AAAAAAAABEc/tMCxKb23qgE/s1600/TheLumineersalbum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U4UOhUDXzxM/UXkUg9RitbI/AAAAAAAABEc/tMCxKb23qgE/s1600/TheLumineersalbum.jpg" /></a></div>
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Whilst following conventions can be useful to a degree, it dawned on me that an album isn't going to stand out on a shop shelf if there are two other albums which look the same. Because of this, it seemed appropriate to add a bit of uniqueness to the front cover. I then decided to add similar brushwork to the back cover to keep it consistant with the front.<br />
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Now left to go are the inside panels. I thought I'd initially prioritise perfecting the front and back covers as they are the parts which need to sell the album, but the inside panels are coming soon. Be excited; one of them has a closeup of my beautiful Black Knight.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-60853343605660671912013-04-04T19:59:00.000+01:002013-04-19T20:20:26.190+01:00Production Update 10 - Draft the SecondWith the <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/production-update-9-initial-feedback.html" target="_blank">feedback I'd received from Sir</a> a little while back I've been able to get a second draft exported for your viewing pleasure. Or something. I don't want to make him feel too great about this <strike>after all, I've spent a good seven months now crushing his spirit</strike> but his feedback has been useful in prompting me to make some changes.<br />
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So as it stands, this is what my video is currently looking like.<br />
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<object height="360" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lM5RvEjjLtg?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lM5RvEjjLtg?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
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Looking better, no?<br />
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Now whilst I could do my usual here and write up several paragraphs about "well, I've changed this because <i>x</i>, and I replaced that because <i>y</i>" etc., but I know you folks love a bit of dynamic media presentation. Therefore, I've employed the wonderful Picture-in-Picture tool in iMovie to have the first draft playing in sync with the new version so you can easily see the differences between the two (the big image is the current version, the overlay in the bottom right is the first draft).<br />
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<object height="360" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fEaoEjcn_Nw?hl=en_GB&version=3&rel=0"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fEaoEjcn_Nw?hl=en_GB&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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It is necessary, however, to bring up a couple of notable points:<br />
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<ul>
<li>The intro has been changed as per Sir's suggestion of having a short shot to draw the audience in without the intro looking awkward.</li>
<li>I've thrown in a few rapid flicker cuts (such as those used as a transition between the first shot and the start of the performance) to make the video "more crazy". This was achieved simply by using the blade tool to make a few cuts to the overlay track, which were then deleted.</li>
<li>A few shots have been shuffled around to fix some of the syncing issues; though as these have been fixed, new and exciting syncing issues have been discovered which need fixing before the next export. Huzzah.</li>
</ul>
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-HM.</div>
~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-35776821841471550392013-04-02T16:11:00.000+01:002013-04-12T19:05:19.027+01:00Production Update 9 - Initial feedback; plan of actionSo... after posting my <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/music-video-draft-1-wip.html" target="_blank">first draft</a> of the <i>I Am... All of Me</i> video, I asked Mr. N. to give me some feedback on the edited product. And he did. Because of this, I will hold off of tormenting him for at least twenty minutes.<br />
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This feedback has prompted me to think about how I'm going to improve the video before presenting the second version. ANALYSIS POWERS, ACTIVATE!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"0:00 -- The opening seems to lack something. It just jumps straight into the middle of the performance. I know the song itself seems to just jump straight in, so arguably the video matches the music… but when I watch it, it just seems awkward. Check out “Heaven's Basement - I Am Electric” – it does nothing special but at least gives an idea of how openings can draw us in a bit more smoothly. You could even just start with a few seconds of noise in the style of your transitions, or perhaps use an establishing shot."</i></blockquote>
I can appreciate where this comment is coming from - the first thing we see in the video is that mid-shot of me with the guitar; there's no real opening. This can come across as a bit jarring. Let's look at the video Sir referenced:<br />
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<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XjRaKId4Rps?hl=en_GB&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
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The first couple of seconds consist of a shot featuring CCTV footage of people walking around. This shot is notable because a) not much is happening in it, yet b) the noise filter they've used over it is reused throughout the video. This soothes the audience into the atmosphere of the video without overwhelming them in the first few seconds, which draws their interest to it more effectively. This is a concept which would benefit my video and make it feel more professional, because in the state it is currently in it feels very incomplete. Whilst this is mainly because it <i>is</i> incomplete, it is also because it just throws everything at you right away without a proper introduction.<br />
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To fix this Sir has suggested using a similar effect to the one I've used for the transitions. Whilst this does make sense as it's following the same design concept as that of the <i>I Am Electric</i> video, I worry that throwing a few seconds of strobe light visuals in before we see anything else would be counterproductive to what I'm trying to achieve. What I do have up my sleeve, however, is a few seconds worth of footage of a close-up of my eyes which we filmed as an extra "it might be useful for something" deal. Usually when I produce things through this clause it usually rots away on my hard drive, yet this could actually be useful! Huzzah. I'm thinking I could try using a shot section of this clip over silence to create the somewhat intense atmosphere, then use a rapid flicker clip A/clip B/clip A/clip B etc. style cutting effect to 'warp' us into the main video as the song starts.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"0:15 - 0:18 -- The facial expression looks a bit bland. It just doesn't seem to match the intensity of the song. I think part of the problem is the length of time the shot holds. Close ups generally tend to be a briefer cut than medium/long shots. The two-to-three seconds you have here is perhaps too long, and brevity will help maintain intensity. I think it looks particularly awkward because it coincides with a moment when the music drops, so you should be trying to make the visuals more… can/t think of a word… more… more crazy (you have to love the technical terminology)."</i></blockquote>
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*can't<br />
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This is something I was a tad conscious of before exporting, so it's nice to know I was right. The problem is particular is when we have close-up shots of my face which seem to go on forever, such as the one at 0:15 which Sir mentioned. Fixing this should be fairly simple; go back to FCP and cut down the close-up shots. Depending on how well it works in practice, I may also experiment with some flicker cuts when using the close-up shots, as this will (in theory) create more of an intense feeling, and make it "more crazy".<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"0:00 – 1:00 -- Does there have to be your special transition between every cut? I’m not suggesting you reduce the frequency of the transitions as these seem spaced out really well, but perhaps you could insert a few more cuts, different angles or movements between the transitions. E.g at 0:40 you could cut to a split-second close up as you say the word “evil.”"</i></blockquote>
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From this I can see the transition effect seems to be spaced properly, though it appears that Sir has suggested making some more things happen in between them. This is another thing which is encouraging me to try using the flicker cuts - as it stands I'm wary about using regular cut transitions purely because having regular cuts mixed in with the strobe transitions would look particularly jarring, in a "oh look, he forgot to put the transition in this time!" kind of way.<br />
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In terms of using different angles/movement, as it stands I don't have much filmed in the way of moving shots, so I'm going to talk Sir into helping me film tomorrow (<b>TUESDAY 2ND APRIL</b>), using some movement. This could be difficult as the wall we've used to film is quite small, but we'll see what we can do.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"2:21-2:23 -- the lip sync is slightly off."</i></blockquote>
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The lip-sync is indeed off in quite a few spots; this can be fixed using the good old fashioned "left a bit, right a bit" method.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"0:00 – 3:08 – the balance between narrative and performance does not seem right to me. I guess it is a matter of opinion, but on the surface it seems that you just do not have enough narrative footage to sustain the video, and have tried to squeeze as much out of what you’ve got as possible. I would go so far as to say about 90% of the video is performance based. Any chance you can reschedule some narrative scenes?"</i></blockquote>
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This is a very good point; most of what we're looking at here is performance - whilst this does fit the <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/rock-video-analysis-1-takin-me-down.html" target="_blank">conventions</a> of <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/rock-video-analysis-2-i-want-it-all.html" target="_blank">rock</a> <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/rock-video-analysis-4-i-am-least-of.html" target="_blank">videos</a>, the narrative could be fleshed out a bit more to make the video more interesting. One idea I've been throwing around for a while now is to throw in some conceptual shots showing things being 'harmed' in some way to support the main character's insanity, for example fruit being cut, or something being dug up etc..<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Right, now that I’ve picked holes in your work I feel much better about myself. I’m sure I can find more stuff too, but I’ll save it for the next edit. Until then, adios... and enjoy Paramore in the meantime."</i></blockquote>
Nitpicking is great, and as we know posting a message on the internet saying that you hate something makes you a better person. You should make a YouTube account; I think you'd fit in well with the community! Also, Paramore are great.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-39802862086104109462013-03-18T12:52:00.000+00:002013-04-25T13:09:56.077+01:00Ancillary Update - Poster mockup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yhhe31y2xk8/UXkaA4Kmn6I/AAAAAAAABE0/TSiVTTXE0Pk/s1600/MasterPoster1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yhhe31y2xk8/UXkaA4Kmn6I/AAAAAAAABE0/TSiVTTXE0Pk/s320/MasterPoster1.png" width="226" /></a></div>
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This is only an initial mockup, but it gives an idea of my mind stream <strike>(is that a thing? It reminds me of a time stream. Only I can alter it without causing any paradoxes</strike>...). <br />
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The idea is to have a very similar approach to the digipak's front cover; this will help promote my 'brand' and will make my face recognisable. The little PIP-style digipak overlap is to enforce the idea that beside all the flashiness, there is a product to be sold, and that it is a good idea to go out and buy said product.<br />
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Obviously I'm going to pretty this up a lot yet, but I thought I should show a rough idea first. The photograph is the same one I'm using on the digipak; I'm so grateful that the media department's DSLR cameras take high resolution stills.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-77760857150967922322013-03-12T13:18:00.000+00:002013-04-25T13:47:43.188+01:00Ancillary Production - WIP Digipak Covers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So... over the last few weeks I've been working on the front and back covers of the digipak for my artist, and so far they're looking like this:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t18K2tw3NII/UTi2An1EZKI/AAAAAAAABCc/t5XmmvOqOKM/s1600/Cover_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t18K2tw3NII/UTi2An1EZKI/AAAAAAAABCc/t5XmmvOqOKM/s320/Cover_Concept.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BiEecOE_Qbg/UTi2BecFc7I/AAAAAAAABCg/6XJz49m8gJM/s1600/Background_Concept.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BiEecOE_Qbg/UTi2BecFc7I/AAAAAAAABCg/6XJz49m8gJM/s320/Background_Concept.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yes, nine songs. But don't worry, Cerberus' Cry is one of those twenty minute epics which consists of a really loud overemphasised progression and the singer making "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh" screaming noises which will be referred to as one of the greatest songs ever for some reason. But I digress.</div>
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Whilst I'm going to ask for opinions from others about the covers before making final versions of these, I have my own analysis below -</div>
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Firstly, I'm quite satisfied with the "Hypnagogic Corruption" title itself for reasons I discussed <a href="http://a2newventure.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/album-title-planning.html" target="_blank">here</a>, though I'm thinking it'd look better if the text is aligned to be in line with the Dark Flame logo on the right. In all honesty I had intended for this to be the case from the get-go, but I kinda overlooked it before saving this version.</div>
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I quite like the logo itself - the glossy effect is one I've always loved using in Photoshop because I like the outcome - it's achieved by creating a circular selection, filling it in white, reducing the opacity and then cutting out an inverted selection of the text.</div>
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I'm not sold on the lighting on the back cover; it looks pretty awkward but nothing that the burn/dodge tools in PS can't fix. The back cover is also missing all the important copyright details <strike>(no copyright law in the universe is going to stop me!)</strike> and other small print details.</div>
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-HM. </div>
~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-1900361213454490482013-03-07T18:07:00.000+00:002013-04-12T18:30:12.456+01:00Production Update 8 - Music video first draft WIP<object height="315" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sCMzumEmyP8?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0"></param>
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sCMzumEmyP8?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
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Analysis to follow later.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-63869080781409115912013-03-07T12:22:00.001+00:002013-03-07T12:22:32.336+00:00WIP Draft... like a flower<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dZptng0Cgvk/UTiF8aHAOMI/AAAAAAAABBk/DJxpcGNkrfA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-07+at+12.16.51.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dZptng0Cgvk/UTiF8aHAOMI/AAAAAAAABBk/DJxpcGNkrfA/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-07+at+12.16.51.png" width="320" /></a></div>
UGH.<br />
<br />
Yes, I will have an update with a WIP draft of my video up either tonight or tomorrow. I would like to post it now, but FCP is taking its sweet time.<br />
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(Post being made to kill time whilst the thing exports. Note my perfectly conventional file name for the export. Because pointing out the obvious is like my job or something. I'm not going to ramble for the remaining two hours so I'll end this now.)<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-76720157482275271212013-03-02T17:55:00.000+00:002013-04-24T18:25:19.260+01:00Music Video PropsHey folks,<br />
<br />
I thought it'd be a good idea to make a note of the props which I've made use of so far in the <i>I Am... All of Me</i> music video. These are actually surprisingly limited given the fact that it's a four minute video, though when you consider that props are usually more necessary to aid a narrative, and my video is performance heavy (as per my research into existing rock videos) it makes a bit more sense as to why.<br />
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<u>Black Knight guitar</u><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w3xywEgH_g4/UHcQaPgkysI/AAAAAAAAAqA/gbeu4SbowkQ/s1600/BlackKnight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w3xywEgH_g4/UHcQaPgkysI/AAAAAAAAAqA/gbeu4SbowkQ/s320/BlackKnight.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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I've used this for the performance shots in the video. This is purely to conform to one of the rock video conventions I found from the videos I've researched, in that emphasis is placed on the performer playing guitar.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tK-Tm2TB9ZU/UALpKKMKmeI/AAAAAAAAAkk/SyssXOajieg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-07-15+at+16.58.54.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tK-Tm2TB9ZU/UALpKKMKmeI/AAAAAAAAAkk/SyssXOajieg/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-07-15+at+16.58.54.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T-eW6xOoYh0/T_l0WoImbmI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/JuvyFYxB5MA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-07-08+at+12.46.14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T-eW6xOoYh0/T_l0WoImbmI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/JuvyFYxB5MA/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-07-08+at+12.46.14.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Why have I used this particular guitar then? It's because it's quite similar in design, and more importantly sound output, to the guitars Jun Senoue (the guitarist in Crush 40) is known for playing.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ywlv8khOrus/UQe9Zog4DgI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/1iBvM4Pze1E/s1600/jun_sa1guitar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ywlv8khOrus/UQe9Zog4DgI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/1iBvM4Pze1E/s320/jun_sa1guitar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As one of Goodwin's conventions is that there should be a link between what we see and what we hear, I thought it'd be appropriate to use a guitar which <strike>if played by a competent musician</strike> could produce a similar kind of tone to that heard on the track.<br />
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<u>Mobile phone</u><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LXD92y2O3M0/UXgT4aUBDTI/AAAAAAAABD0/UVdsTfY9-4M/s1600/DSC00041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LXD92y2O3M0/UXgT4aUBDTI/AAAAAAAABD0/UVdsTfY9-4M/s320/DSC00041.JPG" width="179" /></a></div>
<u><br /></u>
This is used by Stephen in one of the narrative "chapters". I thought having the victim character talk on the phone would be effective as it shows him as being preoccupied (talking to his friend), therefore being no direct threat to the main character. This emphasises the fact that the conflict between the two is purely one-sided, which further brings up the main point of the narrative: that the main isn't exactly mentally stable.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-47467189678310896902013-02-28T11:25:00.000+00:002013-05-09T11:55:48.807+01:00Production Planning - Narrative DirectionThought I should make a post about some of the factors involved in terms of people, location and direction.<br />
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Locations:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Street - there's a street near where I live which is quite built up, which will be suitable for the first confrontation.</li>
<li>Local park - Cedars. There are several spots here which will fit the right "quiet, but not private" feel I want for the second meeting. In particular, an area in the back field with a lone bench.</li>
<li>Alley - there is an alley near my house, with a corner which goes off to a road. This could work well for the third confrontation where my character shoves the other character out of the way.</li>
</ul>
People:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Myself - actor, as the lead character.</li>
<li>Stephen - actor, as the victim character.</li>
<li>Chris - cameraman.</li>
</ul>
-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-10725618207733908942013-02-14T15:43:00.003+00:002013-04-25T12:40:34.384+01:00Ancillary Production - Dark Flame logo (with exciting business theory!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EJjJbk-Qk-4/UR0F8hojyKI/AAAAAAAABA0/ORANvudfqFQ/s1600/DarkFlame1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="87" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EJjJbk-Qk-4/UR0F8hojyKI/AAAAAAAABA0/ORANvudfqFQ/s320/DarkFlame1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u9yC26o6l70/UR0F9ILCssI/AAAAAAAABA8/HwmTaSBtF3E/s1600/DarkFlame2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="56" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u9yC26o6l70/UR0F9ILCssI/AAAAAAAABA8/HwmTaSBtF3E/s320/DarkFlame2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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These are two different concepts for logos which I created for my artist in Photoshop. The logo is to appear on both the digipak and the promotional poster for the album, so it will need to be something that once seen will be remembered. This is important when creating the artists brand, as it will make the promotional material more effective at moving potential consumers along the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) scale.<br />
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By my logic, having a strong brand (specifically in terms of the logo) will encourage the move from the "awareness", "interest" and "desire" phases to the final "action" phase.<br />
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The promotional materials such as the poster will probably be enough to move along the first three phases. People will see the poster up in record shops, the television ad on the music channel etc. with its dark, "cool" imagery and it's obvious rock conventions, making them aware of its existence. If this is their kind of thing, it will develop their interest, and create a desire to purchase the product. Then, if my theory is accurate (and I'm fairly confident in it), the logo will play its magic. People will see the album on the shelf (or digital shelf, if iTunes/Amazon etc. happens to be their kind of thing) and the logo will stick out to them. They'll subconsciously think to themselves "hey, isn't this the logo for that artist I liked the look of on that poster the other day?", and the "this looks really cool" mentality from said other day will come back to them, and they'll pick up the album and buy it.<br />
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As I mentioned before, for this to work, the logo must be something that once seen, will be remembered. Because of this, I believe the first of the two logos will be the most effective. This is because it is more unique - with the gloss and satin effects it looks much more interesting than the second. I worry that as the second is just plain text with a bit of red prettiness, it'd be forgotten about fairly quickly.<br />
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In addition to this, I showed both logos to my classmates, and there was a strong preference towards the first. This shows that it appeals to members of the general public (potential consumers), which is always a benefit.<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-81625655234644061082013-02-14T15:25:00.001+00:002013-02-14T15:25:10.482+00:00Album title planningSo, after starting the production phase of the music video and getting a feel for the Dark Flame artist's image, it's now a good time to decide upon a final album name, which will be featured on the digipak.<br />
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To compliment both the darkness theme of the overall presentation and the questionable sanity of the lead character in the video I thought it'd make sense to make reference to some kind of distorted psychological state.<br />
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I think I've settled on the name <em>Hypnagogic Corruption</em>. Reason? "Hypnagogia" refers to the state of being semi-conscious as one is drifting to sleep - and is occasionally used as a blanket term incorporating hypnopompia, which is the semi-conscious state of awakening. If this state is corrupted, it would suggest a negative influence occuring to the character during this phase... which could lead to evil. And darkness. Get the drift? <br />
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Yeah. I have a slight obsession with the way sleep works. I've run the name past a few members of the class and they were in agreement that it is fitting given the concept of the album. It also sounds pretty cool, which is pretty important when targeting the older teen market. <br />
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-HM. ~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6091209277249238874.post-70372510337542542052013-02-13T21:08:00.001+00:002013-02-13T21:08:09.550+00:00Intertextuality - My Original Music Video (DO NOT STEAL)Hey all, <strike>obligatory <i>Knight of the Wind</i> reference goes here...</strike><br />
<strike><br /></strike>
In this post I'm going to be looking at some of the intertextual references I've noticed between my video concept and other media texts. Some of this is completely unintentional; it's just that since I've been working on this video I've started noticing similar concepts in other pieces and I thought I should post it because it's actually pretty interesting. In my opinion, at least.<br />
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First up - my video will feature a lot of fast-paced cuts, including some cutting between performance, narrative (with actors shown playing characters) and conceptual elements which reference bodily harm. It's dawned on me that because of this, my concept seems like a significantly tamer version of this: <b>(heads up: LOTS of blood, LOTS of gore. If you don't like that kind of stuff, you might want to give this one a miss).</b><br />
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</div>
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They are similar in the way that they both have performance elements, they both show a 'victim' character, and they both have a lot of rapid cuts to shots of things which could be used as weapons. The difference here is that I'm not going to be showing the actual bodily harm. Why? Because a) it wouldn't fit my narrative; in my video the lead isn't actually going to attack the victim, he's just going to consider it, and b) it's more marketable that way - good luck trying convincing a music video channel to show <strike>anything which isn't some terrible reality programme</strike> bloody murder during the daytime when people are actually watching.<br />
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Secondly -<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FeOyMiJgUhQ/URv8gFtoMqI/AAAAAAAABAE/0ghGRLJVaPU/s1600/ShadowTheHedgehogWallpaper800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FeOyMiJgUhQ/URv8gFtoMqI/AAAAAAAABAE/0ghGRLJVaPU/s400/ShadowTheHedgehogWallpaper800.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This was pretty much unavoidable given that the song I'm using was featured in this game, but eh. <i>Shadow the Hedgehog</i>'s storyline revolves around the title character making moral choices as to whether he supports the hero characters in fighting off the evil Black Aliens, or whether he sides with the Black Aliens and conquers the Earth. My video also uses the moral choice concept, in that the lead is considering killing the victim character but is unsure as to whether he should go through with it.<br />
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Next up - I know I've mentioned this before but it's still relevant...<br />
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<object height="315" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vm_zlqC2zlI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param>
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vm_zlqC2zlI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
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The similarity here is the use of the rapid cuts and the strobe lights combined with performance visuals. It was this video which inspired me to go with the strobe cuts when I realised the green screen idea wasn't going to work, so there is a definite link here.<br />
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So yeah... I'm probably going to find more intertextual links over the course of the video's production...<br />
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-HM.~HMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01596282181720860656noreply@blogger.com0