Drawings for Digipak

As part of my digipak, I wanted to include some art, so decided to add some simple drawings to the photographs. I also didn't like the fonts so much in InDesign, so instead drew my own font for the album name that would go on the front cover. I made it look quite sketchy, as that was the youthful look I was going for. I also drew branches growing off it, to add to the natural theme. This will be inverted as it will be going on a photograph with a black background

 

I then wrote out the band members signatures. I could have got the actors real signatures, but decided to save time and create them myself. I altered the look of each one, for variety. I feel inverting these and putting them against a black background of a photograph will add a more personal touch to my digipak and fans of the band would appeal to it.

I then did a more creative drawing of a bird, which I got the idea from the fashion photographer, Alexandra Valenti, who combines drawings with photographs I tried to make it as detailed, while still keeping it simple and clean, I alternating thickness of lines, and also touched up any mistakes in Photoshop afterwards. This will also be inverted and put on a photograph with a black background.

 

I then drew this tree, which also had a natural and creative vibe to it. I added unusual and interesting pattern between the branches. I have decided tot use this, not with a photograph, but on its own, as a background to a page, perhaps a lyrics page, so will be reducing the opacity of the lines, so it is softer and the text above it will be seen.

 

 

Lastly, I drew this design with leaves and branches. I love the simplicity and natural element of the branches, but I really don't like the leaves. So I will be cropping this and only using the branches to the bottom left. This can look good as it is or inverted, and because its so simple, I can re-use this design on several pages, such as in corners or either side large text, so it sort of draws the reader's eye to the text.

 

Album Cover Photos (Before)

I decided to take more images for my digipak, using Beth again and I thought carefully about costume and mis en scene, using props and a black backdrop and lighting. I liked the dark effect that acheived which goes well with the album title and music video song title, 'Rhiannon'. These are the unedited shots, which I will be edited by increasing the contrast, so the black background is as black as possible. I have planned to do some simple black hand drawings which i will be scanning in and adding to these images, for a mystical, fairytale style effect.

Audience Feedback

I showed my music video to the class again and recieved feedback on the strengths and things I could improve on. It was about 80% completed, so I wasn't completely happy with it, but people noticed things that I didn't, so this helped a lot.

Strengths

•  Mis en scene works well – costumes and locations
• Good camera shots and angles
• Editing fits with music
• High quality video
• Representation of singer – face of band

To Improve

• aged film isn't necessary
• increase clarity of narrative by altering video filters for consistency
• Increase drama by altering framing of shots so they are bolder and more abstract
• Some shots out of synch
• Guitar solo starts when guitarist is still playing chords
• Some shots quite long
• Zoom in on percussionist is too long
• Telephone wire – edit out
• Could be bolder with shots – framing
• Differentiate shots by using different filters

Filming Day 3: How it went

For the last day of filming, I planned to film shots of both a feminine, floral outfit as well a white, flowing outfit (at Nunney castle). I then realised after this that it was too much for one day, so decided to split it into two days. I planned to film the shots in the feminine outfit, and also the shots I didn't manage to get the previous filming day (casual outfit). I originally wanted to film these in a forest, however, it was more convenient for my actress to film near her house, where there were fields.

On the day, we firstly filmed the performance tracking shots. I was a bit irritated by these shots, firstly, because I had forgotten to get a steady cam holder from school, so had to use a handheld camera. The shots were actually very clear and the lighting was perfect, so they were ruined by the fact that they were shaky. I decided to keep and use them anyway, experimenting with them during editing. I felt that the fact that Beth was walking towards the camera while shaky, gave the feeling that she had control over the viewer as well. Despite this, the music video still needs to look professional and shaky camera shots aren't at a high standard.

I then filmed a variety of performance and general mood shots of Beth in the feminine outfit, using fields as a backdrop. I managed to shoot some interesting angles and also, as it got darker, some interesting lighting. I originally planned to film some shots at a high angle, or with Beth lying down, but felt that these would really add much to the video, so decided not to shoot them. Overall, the day went well and managed to get some shots that portrayed Rhiannon's feminine, attractive side.
 

A few days later, I took a 10 min walk from my house, to film some shots of a gypsy horse in a small field. I only really managed to get one good, clear shot of the black horse, but felt this would go well in the music video. I did originally plan to film Beth with the horse, however, it was untamed and I wasn't ever sure when or whether the horse would be there or not.

I decided that the last filming day, in which I would film shots of Beth in a white, flowing outfit in Nunney Castle, wasn't necessary. Firstly, because I felt I already had more than enough shots to work with during editing, and secondly because it takes a lot of time and storage space to convert all the videos, and I felt I would be held back with my work, if I filmed anymore.

Filming Day 2: How it went

For the second day of filming, which was during October in the first term. For this, originally planned to film the narrative with a trail of white feathers and performance shots in the singers casual, rock star style outfit, alongside the two other band members, who would 'play' an electric guitar and tambourine.

On the day, I managed to do all of this, and it went very well, and I managed to get a range of performance shots with and without the band members. I was pleased with the shots of the whole band using a tree in the background, giving the shots a casual, natural feel. The location and weather was perfect and I had no problems in that area.

However, I did not manage to get the right type and colour of white feather I had in mind, instead I was only able to get feathers in many different colours and sizes, frome Beth, rather than all large and white. This gave a very different look to I was going for, and wasn't completely happy with the outcome. However I was able to experiment with what we had, so just filmed Beth picking up a single feather, rather than show a long trail. I quite liked the effect this had.

The only shots I planned to do, that I was unable to capture, were performance tracking shots of Beth walking while singing. I wanted to do this to get a feeling of control and power. However, we ran out of time and did not manage to capture them until the next day of filming.

We also were able to get spur of the moment shots, that wern't planned, such a shot of a spiderweb, with Beth blurred in the background. Also I got some of her running, but from a very low angle, giving the feeling that she is string, yet free sprited.

Peer Feedback Lesson

Today in class, we were put into groups of 3 to show each other our pieces far and give feedback and what we liked about it. We told each other wether our work was basic, proficient or excellent. My work was put into the lower/middle of excellent. I showed my music video and was told that I could improve it by:

• The quality of my video was a bit fuzzy, dispite usng a higher quality camera and number of megapixels. This may be because it had not rendered properly
• Some of my shots were a bit shaky, giving the music video a lower quality and less professional look.

By improving these things I will have have raised my level of quality from lower to higher of excellent specifically in the section:

• Shooting material appropriate to the task set; including controlled use of camera, attention to framing, variety of shot sizes and close attention to mis en scene.

To improve I will be focusing on these in the next few lessons:

• I will be experimenting with altering the video quality using the Final Cut Pro settings, talking to my teacher about it and making sure the video was rendered properly.
• I will be looking through the performance shots I already have to use instead of the shaky shots and editing them accordingly.

Editing shots for the Album cover

I have started to edit some of the images that I took, during filming, which will be used for the ancillaries. I experimented with the album cover, in which I wanted to have a side shot of Beth combined with a leafy texture. I like what I produced, but wasn't completely happy with them, and I am thinking how I can improve them. I also took a few shots of te band togethr and I like the composition with the three stood in a row. I also took a few shots of beth near a river, which I really like and I have played around with the editing, to see what will work best.

Filming Day 1: How it went and images

For the first day of filming, during the summer holidays, I filmed 2 series of narrative shots, the first with a bohemian style outfit, filmed in forest and field locations. I was happy with all of these shots, and managed to capture all that I planned to, as well as some other shots that came about spontaneously. For my first time filming, I felt I was quite good, mainly becuase I have experience in photography, so needed to think more about motion. However, I struggled a bit to control the zoom control on my camera, which meant some shots were zoomed into too quickly. I thought about my camera movements as well, such as panning and tilting, for a smooth movement.

 

In the evening, when it was dark, we went into the same forest area with a bright torch to film shots of Beth in a very dark, black outfit, and shone the torch over her. I experimented with the torches movement, as well as Beth's movement, to create a scary effect, reflecting Rhiannons dark side. When I had this idea in mind beforehand, I wanted more of the forest to be seen in the shots. However, it was too dark and the torch wasn't bright enough, so the shots could have been filmed anywhere, as only Beth was seen. This, however, had an interesting unique effect, which I really liked. Overall, I was really pleased with the outcome and was glad that everything went well, despite it being my first time filming.

 

Here, I have posted images taken on the day. I photographed the outfits worn, as well as taking some of the images that will be used for the album cover and advert. The advert will use series shots of Beth spinning, all layered together, to create a dreamlike, magical effect.