Continuing to Edit 2

In the lesson, I have been editing my music video more, by adding in different shots and angles to start to tell the narrative for the illustration method of my music video. However, I came across an issue with the track I was using, as it had a glitch where the song says 'but don't me for a fool'. This means that I will need to get hold of another copy of the track so that this does not happen. This may be an issue as the next copy may not be the exact same timing as the old track as to when it comes in etc, so I may have to re-edit parts of my video. I have finished editing together footage for the first verse of the song, however most of the footage is slightly grainy or out of focus. The reason for this is maybe because I didn't adjust the focus correctly while filming, however I did not notice this on the small camera screen. I will carry on editing my footage once I have the new music track, which will be by tomorrow.

Continuing to Edit 1

I have continued to edit my music video by editing in the first two lines with Connor lip syncing. I have done these from two different angles to suggest that he is waiting and suggest he is agitated. I will continue to add shots of this scene for the first verse, and make sure the cuts are to the beat of the music. I think that the lip syncing fits the time with the music well, and I have edited it so that it is exactly in time. I have also used the cross dissolve transition between the shots which I think works well. Below is a screen shot of me doing this.

Continuing to Edit

As I had started to put the performance parts of my music video into the instrumental introduction, I decided that I didn't want my song to come in straight away. Therefore I used some of the footage I had collected of the chalkboard with the title of the song and the band name to introduce the video. I sped up the clip so that it was played a lot faster than the original footage, and added a video filter called 'line art', so that it had a good effect on it. I then used the fade in fade out transition at the start and finish of this clip before the actual music video and audio begins. Below is a screen shot of a still from the chalkboard clip.

Starting to Edit

I have now started to edit together my music video, by starting to edit the first few seconds of the song with the instrumental intro. I am using the areas of performance for this part of the music video. However, after having looked at my footage on the screen, some of the footage I wanted to use for this is slightly grainy which is a drawback. I am not able to film the band performance parts again as the cast is not free, especially as my brother (who was in the band) has now gone back to University. I will have to make do with the performance areas I have got, as some of them were quite successful, it simply means I will have to use shots which I had not planned to use.

Filming the Chalkboard

I filmed the writing of the lyrics on the chalkboard yesterday as I had planned, and I think it was quite successful. The only issue was that even after rubbing out the chalk, there was still a faint line where the previous line had been written on the chalkboard. This may not be that noticeable on final cut, however it is a slight drawback to the footage. I am going to upload this footage later today in a media lesson to see what it looks like on the screen.

Extra Footage

Although I still need to finish filming all of my footage, I have decided to do some extra footage which I didn't plan originally in my storyboard. I am going to focus the camera on a chalkboard and have the lyrics to parts of the song written in white chalk, as a close up shot so that only the hand is visible. My actor Matthew Tyler is going to be the one to write the lyrics as I wanted to have a male doing it. I have chosen to use a chalkboard rather than a pen and paper because I thought it would be more original and links to my style of song more, and also to the music magazine advertisement I have already created which looks like some of the font is written in chalk. I am planning on doing this today in one of my free periods at school, as I have my video camera with me.

Music Magazine AdvertisementView more presentations from Hannah_George.

Music Magazine Advertisement

Now that I have finished my Digipak designs, I can now start thinking about my music magazine advertisement to go in my chosen magazine of Alternative Press which I mentioned and explained in my Ancillary Task post. I would like to use a similar colour scheme to my Digipak design as the advert's purpose is to promote it. I have looked at posters and advertisements for Simple Plan to get an idea on what styles to use, and it is similar to that of what I used on my Digipak; block bold fonts and colours, black and white contrasts, images related to the band or target audience. Below are some images of the type of posters  I found which I will use to help me when making my music magazine advertisement for Alternative Press.

I will use photoshop to create my advertisement, as I did with my Digipak.

I have practiced and created two examples of the type of advertisement I am trying to make. I have included the album cover image, and name of the band and album, and the date of release. I have also used the same colour scheme as the Digipak so that it matches. I have also edited a photograph of the London skyline I have taken so that it is solid black, which I think looks quite effective. I am not going to use any of these examples as my final magazine advertisement, as I am not very happy with the way they have turned out, although I do like the font styles and colour schemes I have used. Below are the images of the two examples I created on photoshop.

I am now going to create my final music magazine advertisement after having completed the two practice ones. Below is an image of my final advertisement, and on my next post there is also a powerpoint explaining my processes of creating the advertisement, with images and descriptions. I used one of my practice advertisements as I decided I liked it, however I added a red line along the bottom as the buildings were white, and also the track list in small font running along the top of the line.

Inside Digipak CoverView more presentations from Hannah_George.

Inside Digipak Cover

I have now completed my inside cover for my CD Digipak. I now need to print off both the outside cover and the inside cover on a larger scale to gain feedback on my designs. Below is an image of my inside cover, and the next post on my blog contains a power point with the main stages of it's creation process. It is not clear from the image where the middle spine of the cover is, however it is taken out of part of the image on the left and does not have a separate design for the spine.

Ready to Edit

Although I have not filmed 100% of my planned footage, I am able to start editing as I have a mix of performance footage and narrative footage to use for my music video. The sections of the footage I have not filmed are planned for the end of the music video and therefore if my footage is usable, I can start to edit together the beginning stages of my music video while still filming the rest of the footage in my spare time.

Band Performance Film Shoot

This morning (Saturday 7th January) from 10.30am until 12.30pm, me and Scarlett got access to the school and the instruments we would need, and were able to film the performance parts of our music videos. We used the school drama hall as planned, with electric guitars and the school drum kit, and blacked out the room and used the spotlights to make it look more professional and not obvious that it was a school at all. I did encounter problems with the casting arrangements however. I really wanted to film this Saturday as I wanted to make a start on the editing process, and there were no days after school in which all of my cast were available, therefore Saturday was the only realistic weekday in which we could film. Also, the fact that Scarlett had some of the same cast meant it would have been easier and made more sense to film together, which we did.  The problem I faced was that two of my cast members Tommy and Joe had work on this particular Saturday, and the next Saturday, which were the two dates I needed to film the performance sections by. I only realised this in this week just gone, therefore it was quite a last minute arrangement. Therefore I arranged to film with Matthew, Callum, and Connor Hobbs (who would be in Scarletts video, and therefore at the school on Saturday; using Connor to substitute Tommy/Joe). Me and Scarlett then arranged it with the school that we would have access from 10.30am until 12.30pm. However another problem I faced was that on Friday night, Callum told us that he was now unable to come due to the fact he would not be able to get to the school as he lives quite a while away; and something had come up which unfortunately meant that he could not get to the school. I resolved this issue by quickly rearranging my cast and replacing Callum with my brother, Martin; who fortunately fit the genre of the video and also had a suitable costume and knew the song. This therefore meant that instead of my four original cast members, I was now filming with Matthew, Connor Hobbs, and Martin. I was fine with this arrangement as I wanted to have two of them on the electric guitars, and one of them on the drum kit. Although Simple Plan has five band members, it is not noticeable in the instrumentals in the song that there should be five members, therefore three was suitable. Due to these complications, the plans were very last minute and quite rushed the night before. We had set up the instruments in advance so we were able to film as soon as we go to the school, however we did need to ensure that any displays or lightly coloured objects were covered with large sheets of black paper on the walls so that the backdrop was completely dark. Me and Scarlett both managed to achieve a variety of footage for our performance parts of the video. I filmed various angles and movements, and a range of close ups and long shots of the band performing and I am very happy with the way it turned out. I do not feel that the cast change was a disadvantage to me, as after having looked back through the footage I think a lot of it is usable and therefore there has not been any negative impact on my music video by doing this. Below is a photograph of Martin, and a photograph of Connor Hobbs who were my two replacement cast members of the band. 

Saturday's Film Shoot

Me and Scarlett went to speak to a member of staff who would be arranging us coming into school on a Saturday morning, and were told that we need to check if a member of staff will be on site to supervise. Because of this, it is not definite that we can film on Saturday, however she did say she was quite sure someone would be able to be in school in the morning which is when we would want to film. Our plan is still the same to come into school on Saturday 7th at 10.30am for approximately two hours. Our cast is still aware of this and can come in to film. Therefore we will have to wait until tomorrow to confirm that the filming can happen, and if not; other plans will need to be made for the following Saturday.

What I Need to do Next

I have been thinking about what stage I am at in the project and what still needs to be done.
Below is a list for myself to look at so that I know what I need to do in the near future:

- Finish filming outdoor footage with Connor and Joanna.
- Film band parts of music video at school. (DONE)
- Create inside cover for my Digipak and make powerpoint explaining this. (DONE)
- Add location images to my previous location posts.
- Upload slideshow about Rock and Reel magazine to Ancillary task post.
- Post regular updates on filming to my blog.
- Finish researching into music channels on my blog post and choose which channel to use. (DONE)
- Print out Digipak and gain feedback on it and create a post explaining the feedback.
- Start editing music video.
- Start thinking about the other ancillary task of a music magazine advertisement.
- Download track into FCE.

The three main points which I am going to focus on out of this list are;

1) Finish Digipak and gain feedback.
2) Film all of the performance parts of my music video. (DONE - 07.01.12)
3) Start editing music video.

Latest Film Shoot

On Monday 2nd January I filmed as planned with Connor, the main male actor in my music video. I managed to film the indoor footage I had planned, with some lip syncing and various shots and angles of this. The only problem I faced whilst doing this was that it was quite light as it was in day time, although the time of day in the music video would need to be 2am. I am hoping to use an effect when editing to change this, although it is not too much of an issue as it is indoors and may just be a light rather than day light. I filmed various different angles and close ups of connor lip syncing and also using the note as a prop. The only footage I have left to collect involving connor is some outdoor shots of connor lip syncing, however this can be quickly arranged and filmed. Connor wore the same costume as he had in previous shots I have of him, and also styled his hair the same way. I am pleased with how the film shoot went, and I think I gained quite a lot of usable footage. I may have to return to film the lip syncing again when it comes round to editing so it depends on how well it works with the song in the video as to whether or not I will need to re do it.

As far as I am aware, me and Scarlett are still going to film the band parts of our videos this coming Saturday, although we need to check this tomorrow when we go back to school to confirm this.

I now only need to film some outdoor shots with Connor, and some more outdoor shots involving Joanna. I am hoping to do this late afternoon so that it is still light enough to film, however it looks as though it is getting towards evening time. I will arrange to film this one day in the next couple of weeks with Connor and Joanna. Although in the mean time I can start practising and editing together some of the footage I already have gained.