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Completed Outside Cover for my CD Digipak

I have created and completed the outside cover for my CD Digipak. Now all I will need to do is create the inside cover and then the Digipak design will be complete. To gain feedback for this, I am planning on printing my design in a larger scale and asking friends and family to comment on it. Also, I have uploaded a video to YouTube with a still image of the cover accompanied by the music track, asking for comments and feedback. I have also created a thread on the official Simple Plan website, asking for feedback from fans of the band and any suggestions they may have. The links for these are below:

http://www.simpleplan.com/forums/866bc1-feedback-on-album-cover-for-media-coursework/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBKApEnKTRU&list=HL1325100322&feature=mh_lolz

Below is an image of the final completed outside Digipak cover.

Latest Filming Shoots

I have filmed this past Thursday (22nd December) at the location of Joanna's living room for approximately two hours, and finished all of the filming needed from this location. I filmed with Joanna and Matthew, using the props of popcorn and drinks. I also repeated some of the footage I already have filmed so that I have a lot more footage to use when it comes to editing my music video.

I have also had to rearrange the filming I was supposed to do on Monday due to it being quite bad weather and also dark earlier than I had thought. For this reason, I have planned to film on Monday 2nd January from 11am until approximately 2-3pm, to achieve all of the outdoor and indoor footage involving Connor.

From this, I have mentioned to Joanna and Matthew that I will need to film with them once more outdoors in the day time so that it is light. I will plan this nearer to the date although it will most likely be next week one morning. I will plan nearer to the time because I will need to make sure the weather is supposed to be dry.

Also, me and Scarlett have gained permission and access to the school on the Saturday 7th January to film the performance parts of our music videos. We have let our cast members know this, and also any staff who would need to be involved. Therefore I plan to have all of my filming done by this date and ready to edit on the mac.

Confirming Filming

I have contacted Connor and have confirmed that we will be filming on Monday 19th from 11am onwards while it is still light. I have also confirmed with Joanna and Matthew that we will film on Thursday 22nd from 7pm onwards. I hope to achieve all of the footage I was not able to collect last week.

CD Digipak Ideas

I am now thinking about the photography I am going to do for my CD Digipak. I am going to do this over the christmas holidays and get a variety of different photography of different things. For example, either photography of cast members in costume etc, or maybe abstract images which are not even relevant toward the band or the song. I also have photoshop on my own laptop at home, so I will be able to create the cover for the CD Digipak at home during the two week break.

However, I have already created abstract images which I could possibly use. I filmed a fireworks display this year, and used a variety of video filters on final cut to achieve an abstract colourful effect with the footage. I then took screenshots of various sections I think work best, and I am considering using the best one(s) for my CD Digipak, rather than using photographs of my cast members. The reason for this is because I think it will be more original, and it will also represent the style of the band well, as they are rock/alternative rock, and they already use bright colours to advertise themselves on their album covers etc. Below are the variety of shots I have created for my Digipak.

I am not sure however where I could use these images on my Digipak, whether it is the front, back or inside cover. I will test them out in various positions on the template and decide from that which looks best. In the meantime, I will do more photography of cast members and other things which I could use for my Digipak. 

After having collected these images, I have edited a few slightly in photo shop. I have edited my favourite ones, and I will now choose out of these nine images below as to which I want to use in my Digipak. 

Music Channels

Choosing a Music Channel for my Music Video:
I have been thinking about what music channel my band and song may appear on, and I have thought of three popular music channels which all have a variety of types of music playing, all of which could feature my artist and song. These three music channels are;

4Music:

4Music is a music and entertainment channel which is broadcast 24 hours a day. It can also be found on its own website, and also has Facebook and Twitter pages to represent it. This channel replaced 'The Hits', and is shown on Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky. The music shows which are shown on this channel are as follows:

Today's 4Music Top 10,

Fresh Music Top 20,

Your Official Top 20,

UKHot40,

The 4Music Buzz Chart,

4Music Big Ones,

The UK Airplay Top 20,

4Music Doubles.

These different shows all show a variety of music, either what is currently in the chart and new releases, or specific shows for various styles of music, including alternative rock (which is the style of my artist). The target audience for this particular music channel is teenagers and younger adults, due to the style of language used on the show and also on their website, and the colours they use to advertise. Also, most of the songs are in the charts and are newly released, which a lot of younger viewers would be interested in. 

Viva:

VIVA is a more recent music channel, established in 2009. It is owned by MTV and has the slogan of 'up your viva!'. It is only shown on Freeview television, and in the UK and Ireland. As well as music videos, this channel is also used for programmes including MTV and Comedy Central. The main music show on this channel is The Official UK Chart Show. VIVA shows all different genres of music and does not stick to a specific style, however the majority of the music videos shown are from the Top 40 songs in the mainstream current charts. Therefore it is unlikely that my chosen artist and song would be shown on this channel regularly, but may appear on occasion. 

Kerrang:

Kerrang! TV is a digital television station owned by Box Television, which is loosely connected to the magazine, Kerrang!. As of 2005, all of its programme content is music videos, the majority of which is open scheduled, for text requests from their playlist.

The TV station's playlist is mainly metal and pop/skate-punk, although with some unusual exceptions. Certain bands, such as Tenacious D and Limp Bizkit get higher than average play rates, due to higher rates of text requests. Themed 30 minute segments often cover artists who are on the playlist, with large numbers of videos, most noticeably Green Day, Paramore and You Me at Six. 

The bands mentioned last are all of a similar genre to Simple Plan, who are my chosen band. Therefore I believe that Simple Plan - Your Love is a Lie (which is the track to which I am making a music video to) would fit well with this music channel in their themed 30 minute segments which cover artists such as this. 

My Chosen Music Channel:

After having looked at all three of these music channels, I have decided that the channel in which my music video is to appear on is Kerrang!. The reason for this is because this is a music channel with a more specific target audience who listen to music of similar genres to Simple Plan. Similar bands have appeared regularly on Kerrang! which means that the music video will be shown directly to those in the target audience. The style, colour scheme, language and layout of the shows all link to the target audience I am trying to aim my music video towards. 

Filming in the Christmas Holidays

Due to the fact that for the past week I haven't been able to do any filming for various reasons, I have arranged with my cast to do some film shoots in the first week of the Christmas holidays. After having done these I will then arrange to shoot some more in the second week of the holidays and hopefully finish off the majority of my filming. I have arrange to film with Connor on Monday 19th in the day time to get the outdoor footage I need as it will be light at this time. I will also film the indoor footage I was supposed to do on the Tuesday I missed this week. I have also said to Connor that if we don't achieve all of the footage on the Monday, we will continue with it on Wednesday 21st December. I have also spoken to Matthew and Joanna, and am going to film with them on Thursday 22nd December from 7pm onwards in the evening. This will be the footage I wasn't able to film last week. After these film shoots have been completed I will then know what there is left to film and I will be able to plan from there. As for the performance parts of the music video, I am yet to sort out the Saturday filming in January, but am hoping to arrange all of that by the end of the Christmas holidays.

Performance Parts of my Music Video

As I have already written in a previous post, me and Scarlett are planning on trying to film all of our performance stages of the video on a Saturday in January. This is because I cannot find a day after school in which all of my cast members are free as they have other commitments. However, having asked them all if they can film on a Saturday, one cast member (Joe), cannot do any Saturdays as he works every week. This means I will now have to try and sort something else out, for example re-casting or only having three band members. This is unfortunate as it is not what I had planned and it would be better to have more band members. Once I have sorted this element out, me and Scarlett will then have to ask permission and sort out which Saturday we will film, what props we will need, and how we will access everything.

Rearranging Tonights Filming

Unfortunately, I have also had to cancel tonights filming. The reason for this is because Connor's work shifts have changed this week, meaning he is now having to work tonight. I will now have to find other time in which I can film this. I am going to have to try and film the majority of my footage over the christmas holidays. I hopefully should be able to finish it all over the christmas holidays, and also my cast members should be free most of the time throughout the two weeks.

Having to Cancel Filming

In the end, I was unable to film last night at all, and I informed Joanna of this. I was not able to film due to having teeth taken out earlier in the day, and the anesthetic hadn't worn off in time and I would not have been able to do the film shoot. I explained this reason to my cast and they were fine with me rearranging the date. I will most likely get all of my filming done in the Christmas holidays, which start next Friday (16th). I am still going ahead with filming on Tuesday night with just the shots which involve Connor.

Tonights Filming

I had planned to film tonight with two of my cast members, Matthew and Joanna. Unfortunately, Matthew has told me that he now cannot do tonight, so I will have to rearrange this to another date. I will still film with just Joanna tonight though and film the shots which just involve her, and maybe improvise to create shots which I haven't planned; but will give me more choice when it comes to editing.

Next Filming Dates

The next filming date is this Thursday night, and will involve Joanna and Matthew again; filming more shots in the house location and outdoor locations. Both actors are free on this date and I have informed them of the times and locations. They both know what costume to wear, as it is the same as the last film shoot, so there is little information to tell them except for the time and place.

I have also planned to film on Tuesday 13th in the evening, but this time only with Connor as the actor, as I want to film the parts which are filmed in a teenage boy's bedroom. This shoot will involve the lip syncing, so I have made Connor aware that he will need to know the words to the song by Tuesday. I plan to play the song while he lip syncs though, so that it is easier for him. I will film this from 7pm until approximately 8.30pm. During this film shoot, I will also talk to him about when he is available for the next shoot, which will need to be after school because I need it to be still fairly light; but looking as though it is evening. I will be able to achieve this because it is winter and gets dark early.

Change of Plan for the Band Sections of my Music Video

I had originally planned to film today (Tuesday 6th December) and also next week (Tuesday 13th December). However, I did not get a response from all cast members as to whether or not they would be free. Also, On the 13th I have a Duke of Edinburgh award meeting which I need to attend; and therefore that date would not have happened anyway. I was talking to Scarlett Colson, who is in the media class and is also having an area of performance using the same location. Two of my cast for the band are also in Scarlett's, and therefore we thought we could film at the same time, in the same location; and take it in turns. This would save time for both of us, and also for the actors as they would only need to take one day to do this. We also thought that we could do this on one of the first Saturday's in January; and we are currently trying to arrange this with the cast, and any teaching staff which would need to be informed that we would be using the school drama hall on a Saturday. The two cast members which are in both of our videos will need to bring a change of clothes so that they have the correct costume for both me and Scarlett.  As well as making it easier for me and Scarlett and the cast members, it would mean that all of the filming could be done on one day, and we know that the drama hall will definitely be free for use. I have contacted all of the cast members to inform them of this, and they have all agreed except for Tommy and Joe, who have not replied yet. When we know of a date which they are available, we will then get permission and make the arrangements with the props and location in the school. (Music faculty for the props, and drama faculty for the use of location).

List of Things I Need to Complete (Reminder)

Audience feedback video on: Ideas for music video in general, Ideas for CD Digipak (photos).

Get images of locations, Joanna's living room, Roxie's mums living room as an option, Connor's room, outside pavements, just outside Joanna's house, and Roxie's old house living room. Then upload onto the blog posts which are already made.

Arrange next filming dates.

Screenshot editing process when I edit footage.

Take photos when I film to add images to my blog posts of when I film.

Final Cut Express has now been installed onto my Mac

I am now able to edit my music video from this point onwards, as Final Cut Express has been installed onto my mac. Before now, my Mac and a few others were new this year; and therefore did not have the program installed onto them. This was a slight problem as we did not know if they would be able to have Final Cut before I would need to start editing. However, it is now on my mac and once I have collected enough footage I will be able to start editing my music video.

Deadlines for my Advanced Portfolio

Term 3: To be completed by January 4th 2012
- Research and Planning completed and evidence of this put onto my blog for both the main and ancillary tasks. (Assessment and Feedback).
- Most of my filming to be completed so that I can start editing even if I still have some filming left to do.
- Track downloaded and imported to Final Cut Express.
- Editing of music video to be started.
- Editing of ancillary tasks using Photoshop to be started.

Term 4: To be completed by February 16th 2012
- Editing completed by this term if not before.

Term 5: To be completed by April 16th 2012
- Main task and ancillary tasks completed by April 16th 2012
- Media studies coursework screening will take place to receive audience feedback.
- Evaluation completed and presented.
- Exam Preparation for section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production