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

What have you learned from audience feedback?

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

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Editing our final video

During the filming process we had a number of problems confront us that were out of our control. These issues related to the limited time availability that our character chosen to play our artist had to film. It appeared that even with careful organisation; there were still last minute issues that forced us to have to rearrange filming, therefore postponing our chosen days to edit. With this, our final filming day then had to be a thursday (a day before the deadline). Evidently Katy and I were aware that this was very risky; however there was nothing that we could do about it, therefore we had to work around this. When it came to wednesday evening, we were again confronted with another big issue that our artist was no longer able to film thursday. Again, this was out of our control.
Already the editing process had begun as we had already filmed almost all of the lake shots and all of studio shots. This left the field shots, which consisted of about 100 shots - a big part of our video. However with the cancellation after cancellation we made the final decision to cut out the field location. When looking at the lake shots, there is that sense of a field location due to the surroundings, so even though we were no longer filming that location - it hasn't been completely took out our video. To overcome our problem, we had to use the shots we already had to 'fill in the gaps'.
When filming the other locations Katy and I took a fair few extra shots 'just in case' which evidently came in very handy! On top of this when editing I prolonged some of the shots instead of keeping that 'fast paced' quick shot theme throughout the whole video to make up for the lost location. Some of the shots had to be repeated which in turn, is a good thing to create the effect of recognition and impact to the audience. To ensure we pulled off the video well, we repeatedly listened to the song to match shots to the music in order to create the right effect. With this I brought in the idea of a 'dream' which the music style creates as there's a magical sound to it. This idea helped when editing some of the shots to be more longer and fitting them in with the music so that they complement each other. This also reflects some of the feedback we received. I.e. keeping that same expression at the beginning (quite quiet, subtle etc) and then changing it when the music becomes more up tempo. The idea of the longer dream shots fit in well with this and it then allowed me to create those contrasting faster shots when the music quickened.
Another issue we had to resolve was that most of the quick shots consisted of Eve saying one lyric in each one. With so many missing shots we had a limited number of shots of her lip syncing. Therefore we had to select certain shots of her lip syncing very carefully which meant that we left some other ones out in order for it to work, considering continuity, throughout the video.
Overall, I am very pleased with the turn out of the video. With having so many problems I felt the way that we over came still aloud us to bring in the effects we planned during the editing process.

New Location

Katy and I have come to the decision to change our original 'seaside' location to another location we came across. The original idea was to film at the seaside as is reflects a key part of the song. However, with already having trouble with arranging a time to film - due to Eve working full time, we feel that going to the seaside would be too much of an inconvenience and it'll be a lot more difficult to film. We also have to consider that if the filming isn't right, we may have to travel back which would put upon a major problem for us all and could potentially ruin our video due to us not being able to deliver our best. Therefore we have come up with an alternate location. When looking for an alternate location for our draft, we came across a lake that looked perfect in terms of complimenting our song and also the relating to the sea with the ripples and reflections. Although it is a shame to have to abandon our original location idea it's a lot more ideal and sensible to go through with using this new location. We've also considered the positive feedback we had from this location from our first draft so overall we feel that it will definitely work. Above is a clip of the location, with putting it against the music it's clear that they do not contrast each other and do work with the overall effect portrayed. This location will give a similar feel/effect to the original location.

Draft Video Feedback

• The shot variety is good but they are too fleeting.
• It's hard to discern whether Eve is supposed to be happy or sad.
• Lip syncing is out in some clips.
• 1:18 looks like a continuity error.
• She looks slightly awkward in some clips.

Our draft music video had a lot of black screens in it due to the filming not being complete, therefore it was hard to judge whether to quick shots work or not. The quick shots was an effect Katy and I wanted to include in the music video as it's complements the fast paced music and adds to the idea of it being so fast that it encourages the viewer to watch it again. Tonight we have planned to film the rest of the studio shots which we will edit into our video in order to increase the amount of footage which will then make it a lot clearer to whether the quick shots work or not. Another point we are considering is the emotion and feelings being portrayed in the video through Eve's expression. We are planning to create positive and happier expressions when the music becomes more up tempo to help portray the further meaning of the song being about someone she is in love with. Therefore at the start (as seen in our draft) there won't be a mix of contrasting emotions next to each other and it'll work better with the song overall - emphasizing the impact of the chorus more. Further feedback we have received is:

• Positive opening shots - well framed and setting works really well. Some good editing.
• At the point 0.54 - be more theatrical/dramatic when throwing arms in the air - she looks uncomfortable (and is natural/at ease the rest of the time).
• Consider other props/setting/male to add interest!

When we come to film the lake shots again we will redo some of them to ensure that Eve is in the right character and does look comfortable. There are not many lake shots left to film so it shouldn't take us long to make any additional changes/shots. Next to the lake there is also the ideal field and woodland that we now plan to use as the setting works well and looks good. Considering the advice about adding a male character in the video I feel is a really good idea to add the element of male interest - it'll also work to form a more structured and clear narrative as the semantics of the song is around love and her love for a certain man. If we were to bring this element into the video it'd consist of short flashbacks of them both together. However, currently Katy and I both feel that it's a lot more additional work to do at such a late stage. It would also be difficult to create that chemistry between the two people - especially when we're working straight into the final video.

Final Digipack

Magazine Advert Development

Before handing in my final poster I made an improved draft from my first to help me develop my final draft. From doing this I've been able to further develop in order to achieve a high quality professional advert. On the 'before' advert I made the additional changes that I planned to do after I'd received the feedback on the first draft. I wanted to keep the same clothing in the advert, however chose to choose an image that comes across more stronger and dominant. In the first draft I felt that the lift of the skirt came across more fashion like rather than music. Therefore I've changed the image to a more forward and stronger pose - linking back to the how I wanted poses to appeal with Male Gaze through using Laura Mulvey's stronger poses. To add to the dance feel I've added a red tone to it which also cross links with the digipack bringing upon a repeated theme to the overall effect. I've also made the date bigger so the purpose of the advert is a lot more clearer and I've also used the rule of three for the reviews. I also switched the colour of the Animal and Eve T around as I felt that the orangery colour stood out a lot more than the gold colour. The gold colour works better with the Eve T writing due to it reflecting a platinum artist as a whole rather than just the single.

To further develop a professional advert I've redone the hair in order to achieve that glamorous, admirable look that appeals to fans. I feel that this change is better complimenting the make up and clothing in order to overall create that 'model like' look that people would aspire to be like. It also adds to making the artist more established. I've also changed the reviews to higher ones to sell the artist and I've also included my co-working record company logos in the bottom right. Additional changes I've made is the website; making it smaller and positioning it in the right hand corner so that it isn't on the artist's legs, however I've kept the iTunes logo in the same position to keep the rounded layout on the page.

Development of Draft Music Video

Feedback on DigiPack and Magazine Advert

Above is the feedback I received from my digipack and magazine advert. After speaking about it with my teachers I've come up with a list of improvements to get my marks up. Overall I felt my magazine advert was too toward a fashion advert due to the style of pose and the lift of the skirt. The size of the website and date were not the suited sizes and the individual letters had different spaces between them. My improvements for the Magazine advert are:

• Change picture to a more stronger pose to correspond more with the DigiPack - Photo shop the wall lines out.
• Save the font from the website 'Dafont.com' and open it up in photo shop. This will enable me to edit the space between the letters using the grid guidance to ensure the space is equal.
• Re-position the iTunes advert?
• Add the record company logo to the advert.
• Make the date of release bigger and the website smaller.
• Change the nme ratings to /10 rather than stars.
• Use the rule of three for the reviews.

As for my DigiPack I felt that the repetition of the images didn't work well - and that the theme of red should be carried throughout the whole digipack. My improvements for the DigiPack are:

• Continue the red theme on cover inside/back inside - Add onto the lyrics on the cover inside in a neat square format.
• CD slot was previously in the centre - However I'm now moving this to the left cover - keeping the same image.
• Change the fonts on the track list to the same as the front cover.
• Photo shop the lines out of the images to add professionalism.

26th October, Emma's 18th Birthday and Filming!

Today we filmed most of the shots for the draft of our music video at our sea side location. As we couldn't get to the sea side, we decided just for the draft to go and film at Abbey Park, but, as it wasn't a convenient location to get to, we stayed local and ended up with two local locations to choose from. One being Enderby's Jubilee Park, and the other being Carlton Park in Narborough. We chose Carlton Park as we knew there were some good locations to shoot, we ended up finding a tranquil lake surrounded by woodland, the weather was perfect and the shadowing from the woodland made perfect lighting for the shots also. Whilst setting up, we had a phone call from Eve telling us she'd been dropped off, but didn't know where she was. This resulted in Katy running round Carlton Park (which is a massive place!) for about 10 minutes before eventually finding her, it turned out she was in seeing distance from where we were set up but obviously we couldn't see her. When she arrived, we did her hair and make up, to a standard which was recognizable from the camera and started filming, we were just over half way through with filming the shots when we noticed the battery on the camera was running low, we decided to carry on with the filming and towards the end, unfortunately the battery just completely died, however, we got most of the shots we needed and couldn't have wished for more perfect weather, so we packed up and went home as we were all freezing! Here are a few of the location and setting up shots we took...

The lake we filmed at was perfect for what we wanted to achieve from the draft, the weather was lovely and the sun was shining onto the lake so you could see the ripples in the water, we wanted this effect for our draft so we could get a realism of how the waves would potentially look when we came to our final draft of the video.

We filmed at this angle for quite a few of the shots as the lighting was perfect, the surroundings create a really tranquil feel about the location which we think fits well into some parts of the song.

Emma on the phone to Eve, we were just getting set up when we had the phone call! 

Katy setting up the tripod, this shows how close we were to the water! We were so cautious of knocking it into the lake, but thankfully neither of us did.

Emma setting up the tripod, here you get an indication of the surroundings, she looks very happy on her birthday!

Katy helping Eve get ready for the filming, it was freezing and this is what Eve wore for nearly 3 hours. However the weather was perfect for filming so it was a necessary sacrifice for our artist to be a little bit cold.

Eve in her outfit for the filming, we put her in floaty styled outfit as we thought the effect of the wind would look really good and relate to the tranquility of some elements of the song.

Eve preparing herself and taking a look at the 213 shot storyboard, we showed her which angles/shots we would be doing today and some of the poses and stances we wanted her in.

Another problem...

We have encountered yet another problem tonight when coming to film. We were only allowed to use the studio for an hour and our artist Eve struggled with time management to make it on time – therefore we postponed tonight’s filming. However last minute – just before I rang up to cancel our booking, we all were able to meet at the studio at half six, the time we had originally booked it for! With it being last minute we only had 10 minutes to get the equipment, dress out artist and meet there – which we did!
Due to only having little time, we decided to take shorter shots rather than focus on getting every single studio shot. These tester shots gave us a practice with the camera to ensure there were no problems or issues with the camera (which there were, however they were quickly resolved!). They will be uploaded on the blog shortly after editing. Along with this we took a number of close up shots, some with lip syncing, some without as a basis for our first draft. A majority of our studio shots are close ups and corresponding with the music they will only be on screen for short seconds as the music is so fast paced – therefore for the first draft we could use the same shots repeatedly just to get a generalisation of the overall effect. After editing, with these developed shots, we can add them into the video and see if it fits in with the pace of the music. With the final video I plan to take different shots for each close up so that I can change the expression in each shot to portray meaning and links with the individual lyrics. I feel that with constantly repeating the same shots is not only a short way round, but also downgrades the professionalism of the video and is also cutting out a major way to express meaning through the video to the audience - therefore not creating that desired audience reaction. The quality of the shots we took tonight turned out well on the camera along with the lighting used and also the additional prop of a fan being used. Our next day to film will be Wednesday which is the final day that all filming will hopefully be done.

Filming Schedule

Unfortunately our plan to film this half term hasn't turned out the way we had hoped. On Tuesday 18th we planned to film the studio location shots, however our room that we wanted to use (that we also used for the photo shoot) was unavaliable to use that night. With our artist, Eve working full time it's difficult to organise days to film. Therefore for the first draft we're making changes to one location in order to complete a first draft. As the Sea location is difficult to organise, we've substitued this idea for the first draft and decided to use somewhere more local and convieniant in order to get a real idea of the kind/quality of the shots. Our substiutue location is Abbey Park in Leicester. Our new schedule for filming is: 

Monday: Studio shots filmed. Room booked 6:30-7:30

Wednesday: Abbey Park to be filming along with the field location shots. The weather is so far looking hopeful and the wind is also something that will help to adding the effect to our music video!

The Label

Through researching some CD covers I’ve taken note of what particular ‘small print’ writing is put on them (seen in picture below). This I then included on my drafts to add to the realism and professionalism of the digipacks. With this I then created my own names of a producer of the Album and a publisher. This will be included on my final digipacks.
When designing the logo I considered key colours that reflect an established business and connotate things such as importance/status, professionalism and I also want them to be renowned for being a high quality label. On the producer label I chose a block font, that reflects music – through the filled in circles signifying CD’s, vinyl’s etc and with this I used a gold colour as that initiates the idea of ‘being the best’.
With the publisher design I felt it wasn’t as big as the actual record label therefore their design can be a slightly more subtle. I used a simple colour grey that reflects the typical business, simple design. I felt this worked for a less established business as it keeps the professionalism theme and doesn’t reflect any other unnecessary connotations. Therefore I’ve kept it plain and simple.

PRODUCER - Republic Records (sound)

PUBLISHER - Collection Music 

Looking at Digipacks

An idea of a digipack layout, context, fonts, information on the digipack, use of graphology and overall how it comes together through colour scheme and all of the above.

Analysing an album release poster

Analysing an album release poster

Analysing an album release poster

Camera Shots