Thomas Knapp- A2 Media Blog

PROBLEM!!!

2011-03-18T23:17:00.003+00:00

Some of the SCRIBD documents used for the evaluations are not displaying the work properly on Blogger. If this be the case, please click on the link at the beginning of each Scribd document to see what is written in full.

Also, some of the SCRIBD documents cannot be viewed on Apple Macs for some reason. If this be the case they can be viewed on regular PC's.

Evaluation- Question Four

2011-02-16T17:08:00.032+00:00

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Numerous software's and equipment were needed in order for this project to be completed; you wouldn't even know where to start without it.

First things first, technology came into direct contact right at the beginning of the project when we had to create our A2 media blogs. The software BLOGGER, the same as in the AS year was the chosen software to publish our coursework on. Blogger is an essential component in this project not only for displaying our work effectively, but also providing a way of communication, managing our time and obtaining feedback. This interactive blog also enabled us to post research videos from YOU TUBE as well as allowing us to publish Slide-share publications and Vimeo videos, displaying our ideas, planning, research and of course our final work.

The search engine FIREFOX acted basically as the hub for this entire project. In order for us to research, access our blogs and review other work, the internet was essential. This in turn leads on to how we began to research. After discovering our chosen music genre, we needed to research into the music video conventions. In order to do this, the broadcasting site YOU TUBE was used predominately in order for us to watch and analyse numerous music videos.

These two pieces of software provided us with existing music videos in abundance as well as helping us to understand the conventions of these products. This ensured that we were able to create a realistic and professional; product which complied with the industry’s conventions. It was in fact the internet that lead us to finding the music genre that best related to our chosen song. The website UK TRIBES was used in order for us to obtain in depth information about our target audience as well as an insight into their interests and hobbies. Without the internet, such accurate information as this would have been hard to come by.

The social networking site FACEBOOK, was the chosen software for our group to correspond and discuss ideas out of school as well as obtain a wide range of feedback for all three products, whether rough or finished.

Even though the above can be accessed on nearly all PC's, our work would predominately be created and manipulated on the sophisticated APPLE IMAC. This quality piece of equipment enabled us to construct the aspects of our project effectively and with ease.

The Ancillary Tasks

In order for us to create distinctive and high quality ancillary tasks, the software ADODE PHOTOSHOP was used. After using the software at AS level, we were able to effectively construct a Digipak and Magazine Advertisement , using all the necessary tools provided by the software. The magazine advertisement consisted of a basic image of our artist looking in an upward direction. This image was heavily manipulated in photoshop using such techniques as desaturation and the stamp tool in order to achieve the desired effect. Again, for the Digipak such tools as the magic wand and adjusting the opacity levels were used to create the basic firework template. The coloured firework impression was also manipulated via the hue/ saturation tool and changing opacity levels. (For more detailed information please see the development stages).

The Music Video

We used a Sony DCR-HC62 camera to film our video. The high quality camera enabled us to achieve the crisp look we wanted and needed for our video to look professional. The settings on the camera also enabled us to manipulate such aspects as lighting in order to achieve the desired effect. An example of this was in the opening section of our music video. The spotlight setting was used in order to illuminate the artists face, but not the surroundings. For some of our footage, we used a tripod. This allowed us to obtain stable footage for desired sections of the video. Predominately, however we used it hand-held. As our artist was constantly on the move throughout the video, the camera movement worked well with the walking sequences.

Our footage was then uploaded to the programme FINAL CUT. Our audio was first manipulated on the highly advanced garage band. It was then imported into the Final Cut software's timeline, before capturing our desired footage and, over time, placing sections of footage into place. The took a lot of time as some aspects such as lip syncing and narrative features and to be shown at chosen parts in the lyrics. The software enabled us to constantly view each section of footage, which if needing to be modified, was easy to do. The software also enabled us to experiment with different effects for our music video; it being either colour correction or transitions.

Editing the Video

Please click on link to view in better detail.

When out filming, images were taken on an IPHONE 4 of our group working, locations and of our artist performing. This provided us with crisp images to work with and use as evidence, showing our group working effectively. These images could then easily be uploaded to the desired software in JPEG form.

Technology has been vital when presenting and assessing our work in the evaluation stages. Technology has been used throughout as well as answering these evaluation questions efficiently. Video's have been created, provided final feedback on all three components of this project. Compilations have also been created in order to elaborate on the text based answers. Such features as these make the evaluation much more engaging for the viewers as well as express our work in a more effective manner. Without all this technology, this project could not be done!!!

Evaluation- Question Three

2011-02-16T17:08:00.029+00:00

Evaluation Question 3

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Evaluation- Question Two

2011-02-16T17:07:00.012+00:00

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

As well as having to complete a music video for this project, two ancillary tasks needed to be created also. As our group had experience using manipulation software, we chose to create a Digipak and Magazine advertisement to accompany the main task. Throughout our research during this project, we have discovered that most artists usually carry a house style for the majority of their products for promotional purposes. Therefore, extensive research was undertaken into how house styling is maintained. Such aspects as unique logo’s and fonts enable some artists to be easily identified by their target audience.

We tried to portray this feeling of a house style through out our ancillary tasks.

As you can see, aspects of the house style are maintained via the constant use of the font 'Roadway' for all text on each of the ancillary tasks. Even though colours have been changed, the style of the font can easily be recognised as being the same.
The image used for the magazine advertisement is the same as the one on the inside left cover of the Digipak. This was done to maintain the continuity of the two products.
Other corresponding factors between the magazine ad. and components of the Digipak are the use of the record labels logo on each piece as well as some similarities in colour with the interior.
The disc directly relates to the interior of the Digipak; the colours used as well as the worn/ Burn't effect. This aspect can in turn relate to the 'Fire' in the title of the song as well as the burning picture sequence at the end of the music video.
In Greater Depth

Our genre being 'RnB/Hip-Hop' was enormously beneficial as all our group members listened to this type of music and had ideas in abundance as to how to go about the ancillary tasks. As our song expresses a lot of emotion throughout, we wanted to make our ancillary tasks as expressive as possible also. In order to do this we concentrated on amplifying each individual aspect rather then putting over elaborative detail into it. We followed this representation for both platforms.

Once all aspects of the ancillary tasks were completed, we were given feedback by those willing (see question three) who expressed their opinions on our finished work. The majority of the feedback we received was very positive. The audience could easily identify the house style of the piece as well as falling into our music genre category.

Evaluation- Question One

2011-02-16T17:03:00.022+00:00

Evaluation Question 1

Part 2

NOTE: IF ANY OF THE ABOVE PAGES SHOW BLANK, PLEASE FOLLOW THE EVALUATION LINK AT THE BEGINNING OF THE POST TO VIEW THE CONTENTS IN FULL.

Has been noted that some slides come out blank when viewing :(

Final Cut

2011-02-12T13:19:00.003+00:00

Final Magazine Advertisement Design

2011-02-08T19:11:00.003+00:00

Final DigiPak Design

2011-02-08T19:10:00.011+00:00

DIGIPAK FRONT and BACK

DISC

DIGIPAK INSIDE PANELS

Editing Evidence

2011-02-08T19:03:00.011+00:00

Music Video 'add-on' Features

2011-02-07T20:19:00.000+00:00

When watching Muisc video's on the television, there is normally a reference via name or image of the actual channel. Taking this into account we believe our genre of music would be a broadcasting choice for the music channel 'VIVA'. Therefore, like other music video's shown on this channel we will have the 'VIVA' logo positioned in the top left corner for the duration of the song. Another idea we had was a music channel 'FLASHBAR'. These are common on many music channels, normally containing such information as the album name and artist. We decided to create a basic version of this pop up (shown below) which we intend to show at the music video's beginning and end to give it that more professional look.

Music Channel FlashBar:

.click to enlarge

The vibrant greens and pinks used in this FlashBar were chosen deliberately in order to contrast with the colours of our video. This enables the viewer to easily recognise it when it appears during the video.

Final Magazine Advertisement Production

2011-02-07T19:07:00.018+00:00

In our research we looked in depth at a variety of Magazine Advertisements. Our initial design idea for our ad. was agreed (as a group) a great interpretation which will relate to our target audience. We wanted a really simplistic design, using an obvious stamp-like style to make the foundations of our ad. Below is a quick insight into the stages we under went in order to create our Magazine ad:

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STAGE ONE- To begin with we began planning simplistic concepts on paper. It was myself who done most of the drawing. The sketch above shows the final template we came up with for our ad design. We wanted to maintain the continuity with the Digipak, by using the same font as well as the image of Remi. We planned for this image to give the impression that our artist is standing in front of a poster/ billboard displaying the text.

STAGE TWO- We now had to construct this idea on Photoshop. We began by creating a blank A4 canvas as this would be the actual size of the magazine advert. We then incorporated the black strips which would act as a contrasting background for some of the text. Again, using the 'ROADWAY', we wrote the conventional information into each of the corresponding locations. This then gave us our basic backdrop for the magazine advert; nothing complex, but providing us with an bold/ impressive template.

STAGE THREE- In order to get the image of Remi to maintain the theme of the poster, we had to transfigure the image into black and white format. The image was then manipulated via the stamp tool which turned the darker aspects of the picture black, and the lighter parts white. This effect directly corresponded with the other aspects and maintained the continuity of the piece.

STAGE FOUR- The next stage was to add information which directly related to the song and was a conventional aspect of magazine advertisements. We simply added the the star rating and music company logos into the planned area of the piece. These were then turned to black by the fill tool. Again, using Roadway, the sale information was typed in white to make up the ads footer.

STAGE FIVE- In order to maintain the continuity with the DigiPak and video, we had to tranfigure the advertisement in order to give it that worn/ burnt effect. A simple diagonal orange fade colour overlay was created to go on top of the advertisement before the opacity levels were adjusted, just leaving behind the slightest colour disfiguration.

In more Detail- Magazine Production

2011-02-07T14:08:00.000+00:00

Using a blank A4 canvas, I simply used the rectangle shape tool to create black rectangles on the white background by dragging the mouse from the point where I wanted the shape to start to the point I wanted it to end.

These stripes would each play host to a line of text on our poster.

Next I added the text using the horizontal type tool.

The font used was our house style font 'Roadway'. I used the free transform tool to place the text where I wanted it by pressing ctrl+T. I then changed the colour of each line of text so that it would be the opposite to the colour of the stripe it was on. Do do this I just highlighted the text and clicked the colour box so that I could choose a new colour, then clicked OK. These steps produced the following:

Next we had to add a picture of Remi, the artist featured in our video. First we had to chose from some images taken on an iphone 4. Here are some of the images we had to chose from:

The top image is the one we chose to go on our poster. Before it was ready however, we had to import it into Photoshop and then cut it away from the background using the polygonal lasso tool.

I then deleted the background of the photo and dragged the layer containing Remi onto our poster image, resized it using the free transform tool and placed it where I wanted it. However to fit the style of the poster, we had to edit the image. By clicking filter>sketch>stamp, we applied the stamp effect to remi's image. This gave us the following:

Finally, as with the CD cover, we applied an orange gradient using the gradient tool after importing a the logo for our record label and a 4-star rating from google images into our picture and placing them where we wanted. We also added the websites such as that of our label as well as logos fitting to our work. This produced the final product - shown below:

Final DigiPak Production

2011-02-06T17:03:00.023+00:00

As a group we looked in a lot of detail at the first DigiPak produced and decided that the design was much to busy. We was as trying to link this design with our ideas for the magazine advertisement style and decided that the two components would not link together effectively.

Our third attempt at the DigiPak, which proved to be our final design learnt towards a very simplistic design style. This design was deliberately put together in a much more basic design, having no image of the artist at all (similar to some of Kanye West's covers). Instead, basic fireworks made up the foundations for this simple but effective design. Below are the stages of production.

We first created a new document w the dimensions being 12x12 inches

We then created our background layer, using fill tool on the document we created to make it black.

We now have our canvas. The next stage required us to find images of fireworks that we could then manipulate into looking like the clip art styled images we need.

We found a suitable image of a firework through searches on google. We then imported the said image into photoshop. First we desaturated it to make it black and white by clicking Image>Adjustments>Hugh/Saturation... We than applied the following settings:

Now the image had become black and white, we had to apply an effect that would give it the clip art like appearance. We chose the stamp effect by clicking Filter>Sketch>Stamp... We then applied the following settings:

Now we had the fireworks in place, it was time to add the text. We searched dafont.com for a suitable font and we discovered on named 'Roadway', we imported this font into photoshop and, following the rough layout of our plan, added the text to the image using the Horizontal type tool tool.

We then changed the colours of the text. To a pale orange and a very slightly orange tinted white. We also placed the text and changed its size by clicking Edit>Transform>Free Transform. Here is the result.

We then added a gradient to give an orange theme to the front cover. The gradient was added with the gradient tool on the sidebar and the following settings:

We also added the compulsory parental advisory logo into the bottom corner and here is the result:

The bulk of the work is now done, but we still need to add the effects that will give a professional look to our cover. First of all, I wanted to give the cover some paper texture so that it carried a similar style to the poster and our disc, which are all paper themed. I found that many of the photoshop effects available to me were not good enough as they were too neat and structured in their design, so i decided to find an image of paper texture through google. This is what I chose:

Once placed in the document, this image obviously needed some editing before it gave the desired effect. First we had to set the blending mode to overlay in the layer pallet so that the image would blend in with our cover. However this was to strong so the opacity had to be changed, these are the setting given to the layer:

Once placed into the cover image, these layers were both given the blend mode of overlay and each had their opacity changed to levels that suited us. Once we were happy with the result, we re-added the parental advisory logo and we were finished. Here is the end result:

SPINE
Creation of the spine was quick and easy. The spine is 0.8 inches wide and 12 inches in length. As with the front cover and the back cover, we followed a number of stages.
-background of spine set to black
-Roadway font, Horizontal Type Tool and Free Transform used to make the text span the entire spine as seen on many covers we researched.
- Text set to the same pale orange and orange tinted white colours as used in the front cover stages.
-Young Money record label logo imported from google and placed at the top of spine, as seen on other young money CDs.
-Finally, a firework image added on a layer over everything. The blend mode is set to overlay and opacity is changed, as before.

Here is the final result:

Disc Production

2011-02-06T14:05:00.001+00:00

The stages of creation for our disc, from importing a blank CD template into photoshop to this the image below, were exactly the same as seen on the creation of the magazines poster. As they were produced using exactly the same methods and tools. However the disc has one further stage that was not on the poster.

We wanted to add a burnt effect to the disc to link into our video's style. To make the image look like it could burn, we overlayed the below image of paper texture:

Then, we used the eraser tool to rub out parts of the cd, and these bits would be the bits that had been burned away.

Next, I used the paint brush tool to paint the edges of the burn area a darker brown, and then used an innerglow by clicking layer>layer style>innerglow. This effect would be made dark and would make the rubbed out edges look as if they had been burned. This prodiced the final result below:

Rough Cut Feedback

2011-01-25T17:06:00.005+00:00

Our rough cut being complete, we had a viewing in front of our classmates in order to obtain relevant feedback. This feedback will be critical to the development of our video; for us to improve aspects of the video. By getting different viewpoints on the strong and weak points of our video, we will now be able to progress the editing stages in order to achieve our final cut.
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Below are the main positive and negative points we obtained via our initial feedback.

'I really like the firework overlay; it gives the video a powerful start'.

'The alley way gets a bit repetitive'.

'Slightly out of sync at the beginning'.

'The burning photo is a really brilliant ending'.

Rough Cut

2011-01-25T16:13:00.005+00:00

Fireworks - Rough Cut from Media Group on Vimeo.

The 'Professional Look'

2011-01-24T12:37:00.000+00:00

Many examples we have seen of A2 media videos; however good the composition may be, are let down slightly by the amateur looking colour. It is plain to see that the work they have produced has been filmed on a small camera and retains the basic look of a family video.

To attempt to avoid this fault, we will try to use the right amount of colour correction on our video without going over the top and making it so heavily edited it breaks the illusion. The basic concept of colour correction and the changes it can make to footage can be seen in this video:

Filming Production Images

2011-01-22T16:51:00.002+00:00

Below is a compilation of shots from when our group were 'out and about' filming.

Filming Production Photos from Media Group on Vimeo.

Locations

2011-01-02T09:09:00.002+00:00

Before beginning Our video we needed find suitable locations which would match the genre of our music. As a group we came to a decision that the best environment would be in rural areas as we believe our target audience would be attracted to the idea of abandoned/ mysterious places. When brainstorming idea's to display the character's sense of loss and heartbreak, we needed to find locations which accentuate the artists isolation from the rest of the world, trapped in his own emotions.

The first location we found was an Alley way not far from our school. Immediately we thought that the location matched the chosen criteria and the rural/ natural environment could be utilised in sections of our music video. Our initial thoughts was that this location would be best suited to the walking/ rapping sequence we plan to incorporate during the verses.

Images of the other location (Car Park) will be taken when actually filming the footage and can be viewed in a later post.

Filming Schedule

2010-12-30T10:12:00.002+00:00

Below is a basic template for our shooting schedule. We are going to attempt to film a location a day next month (January). However, these dates are just a guideline and may change! Nevertheless, the dates have been agreed by the group and our actor as ideal times for filming. We cannot predict such aspects as weather and footage quality; however when filming posts are written, such predicaments will be explained.

Risk Assessment

2010-12-29T12:15:00.000+00:00

1. What potential hazards will be encountered?

· Glass- In our video we plan for our artist to smash a photo frame containing the image of the girl who broke his heart. Therefore, the actual process of smashing it may cause glass shards to fly off and hit someone or scatter around the area we are videoing in.

· Fire- We also plan to burn an image of the artists love interest in our video. This process will involve the use of flammable products such as lighter fluid and fire lighters; possible burn injuries may occur whilst lighting the image.

2. How will these hazards be prevented?

· All footage will be filmed from a substantial distance. In the case of the smashing glass, this will be carried out in as minimal ferocity as possible in order to prevent shards flying in an uncontrolled manor. Glass shards are extremely sharp and dangerous, these could be hazardous to any one of the group and mainly the actor.
Also, sheets will be put down surrounding the area to prevent the glass being left behind once the filming has been done.

· Again all footage will be filmed at a substantial distance in case large flames are produced. when lighting the image protective gloves will be worn and the surrounding area is fire resistant.

3. What potential location hazard(s) will be encountered?

· Filming in multi-story car park- In our video we will have footage of our artist on the top floor of a car park. vehicles will constantly be on the move around our filming area. Also we will be filming at the edge of the car park in order to gain some perspective of being up high; therefore there is a rather large drop over the edge.

4. How will these hazards be prevented?

· We will be cautious at when we use the car park, setting up in areas where the cars cannot go. We will also make sure that our artist and equipment don’t get to close to the edge but still maintaining the perspective of height.

DigiPak Rough Designs

2010-12-28T13:15:00.000+00:00

After looking at many different DigiPak design I began experimenting with possible layouts and ideas on photoshop. When designing the front covers I wanted to incorporate a reference to fire or fireworks in order to maintain the continuity with the song. My first attempt was a basic image on our artist aflame on top of a distressed background. Although this was a really cool piece to work on as a group we felt it was not Digipak material. The second attempt was a sort of textured/ cartoonized effect which had a very eye-catching style with a lot going on. Below are the steps taken to produce this design.

DigiPak Front- To start off I opened up the photoshop software and created a blank 12' 12cm document which match the dimensions of a DigiPak front. I then needed to manipulate a basic image of our artist so that it looked like a sketched image. In order to do this I had to desaturate the image before going to the filter tool and modifying the sketch settings in order to get the required style. I then started to experiment with the blending options before ending up with my final image. I then brought in a textured canvas style image which I used for the background. This gave the whole theme of the DigiPak is distressed feel which suits the target audience. I then created a black strip to act as a footer before putting the 'Parental Advisory' label in the bottom right corner. To give the 'Fireworks' title its effect I simply merged the text layer with the black footer before using the magic wand tool in order to just leave the impression of the 'Fireworks' text behind. The text I used was called 'Roadway', a very bold but simplistic text which makes a statement similar to DigiPak's of the same genre. I used a very simple outer glow from the blending options to make the text even more obvious.
The final step was to bring in the impression of some actual Fireworks. In order to do this I had to use tools such as the magic wand, background eraser as well as the hue saturation, opacity setting and some basic glow blending options. To finish off I duplicated the canvas texture and turned down the opacity in order to give all aspects (except the artist image) that textured style.DigiPak Back- To maintain the continuity of the piece I again used the same background image. The difference with this set up The photoshop canvas width had to be increased by 0.8cm as the spine of the DigiPak must be incorporated. I simply created another black strip with a smaller light coloured strip overlayed to act as the spine. Again I used the same techniques as before to create the black footer and the Firework template.
I then added the some basic features seen on nearly all DigiPak's into the footer; barcode, recycling logo and the disc logo. By added these keeps the conventions of a DigiPak. Again using the 'Roadway' text I added the album title and artist to the spine in order for the album to be easily distinguishable in a CD rack. I then incorporated the record label's logo and some basic information in order to make the piece look more authentic.
To create the tracklist I again used the 'Roadway' text to keep the piece flowing. I used a light colour from the background for the colour of each songs title as well as using black for any song that contained a featuring artist. In blending options I again used a light outer glow as well as using a drop shadow matching a darker aspect from the canvas background. I feel using these colours in the text maintains the theme of the DigiPak. To finish I moved the positioning of the tracklist to give it an unconventional effect.
DigiPak Inside Left- This very basic design again contained the same background and Firework Image, however in different positioning. I then created a simple black box with the opacity turned down in order to show the taxtured background. I then brought in the Young Money Entertainment logo into the document before using the magic wand tool and the outer glow setting to give the basic shape of the piece. I then decreased the size of our artists image before placing it on top of the record labels logo.
The text again in the 'Roadway' style was inserted first in a basic white format whcih works effectively with it's black backdrop. I then used the same settings as on the tracklist for the middle section whcih contains the message, in order to maintain the continuity with the DigiPak's back cover.
DigiPak Inside Right- For this section I used the exact same backdrop as on the inside left side. I felt this part did not need any more elements as it would have a plastic covering and disc masking it for the majority of the time. In order to create the plastic disc holder I placed a basic template on a white backdrop into photoshop. I then used the magic wand tool to remove the white background. I then brought in a plastic sheet image in from the internet before turing the opacity down. These layers were then meged together before I used the inner bevel in the blending options to give the piece a more realistic impression.

Shot List

2010-12-20T15:14:00.000+00:00

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Above are some shots we plan our video to be mainly composed of. Our video will require numerous shots in order to make our video look authentic. It will also grab the audiences attention more than if only a few different shots were used.

Clothing Ideas

2010-12-19T18:54:00.001+00:00

Our ideas for clothing in the music video is to blend both formal and casual dress sense together. We decided this would reflect the different aspects of our artists life. Some scenes will have Remi dressed in shirt and tie, others in casual clothing.
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Magazine Advertisement Creation- Research

2010-12-18T16:26:00.010+00:00

As part of the Ancillary task I also have to design a magazine advertisement for the release of my new DigiPak. To create the advertisement I have looked at some existing adverts in as shown below.
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As a group, we began to discuss ideas for our Magazine Advertisement design. Sharing the same vision for our video, we want our magazine advertisement to be bold and easily recognisable to maintain the continuity to the style of the music. It has to evoke the same image that we will convey through our video. The above images are some examples of some magazine advertisements for DigiPak's found in magazines.