2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?
When I first had to create my ancillary tasks, I wanted to ensure that I had a consistent theme running throughout them so that my target audience of teenage girls would have appeal to them and that they related to my music video well. For the inspiration of my Digi-pack and magazine advert I looked at Pixie Lott who was the artist of my chosen song for my music video, "like a broken arrow". We wanted to portray Pixie Lott as a young teenage girl who is trying to connect with her audience. So, I decided to use locations that teenagers would be familiar with such as parks, benches and their front living room.
For my Digi-pack I used the black and white theme that I have running throughout music video which gave it the professional look that I wanted to and I think it fitted with the lyrics/theme to the song (relationship break ups). For the front cover I took a print screen from my actual music video where Elle is resting against a white wall. I used this image as the audience will be familiar with it from the music video and it will clearly show that she is the main female protagonist being re
presented in the video. I adjusted the contrast a little more so that she stood out against the all and adding in a "swirly" font which i downloaded from a fonts website as I think this fitted with my pop genre and showed the young and girly character, inspired by Pixie Lott herself.
For the inside covers I chose a "kiss" shape to represent the love within the music video and on the other I used a black silouette of the cupid with an arrow as I also had this in my music video as an overlapping shot of when Elle and Alex in the video are arguing, the arrow breaks over them.
Here is my second ancillary task which is my magazine advert. Again, I have kept the consistency running throughout by continuing the black and white theme and again using a "swirly/girly" font to keep the initial idea of portraying Pixie Lott as much as possible. Again I have used screen shots from my music video so the audience can relate to the advertisement as they recognise them fro the video itself. The purpose of this was to promote the album itself. I used quotes from famous music magazines to make it look more professional and believable.
Overall, I think the overall effectiveness of the combination of my ancillary tasks is good because I have used the same locations, fonts and images throughout that my target audience of teenage girls will be able to relate to and along with the storyline and narrative of the music video.
I downloaded "paint pro plus" and was able to expand on my editing skills. The first photo I uplaoded is a balck and white shot of Elle. I changed the focus usign the "spot" tool. I hand drew (quite badly) a red pouted kiss shape and then in a swirly text I wrote "Pixie Mix - Broken Arrow". This was in a small black font so it was visible, but Elle was still the main focus.
The second photo is my favourite. It's shot of Elle standing against the big gate with a beautiful house in the background. I used the "spot" tool once again and this time I changed the focus so that Elle stood out much more then the background. I think this looks really effective and will make a great album cover. I hand drew "pixie mix" with the airbrush tool and used black as this stood out against the background. I used a baby pink and did "hearts" for the dots on the eyes as this gave it the little girly edge that Pixi lott would have. I then used a swirly font and wrote broken arrow in a smaller font.
The last photo I uploaded it the same as the first one but this times it's in colour. I then used the airbrush tool and hand drew pixie mixx as I did on the second photo.
These are all very basic ideas but I hope to put my final piece together over the weekend!
This is very VERY basic, but having not used photo shop before, I am struggling a lot! I uploaded a pohot of Elle which was a print screen from our music video. I then converted it to black and white, adjusted the contrasted and also added the album name and artist in a girly font. This is just a rough idea and over the weekend once I have got to grips with photshop I will look fowards to being able to producing all 4 sides to my digipack!
Now that I have an actual idea of what I want to appear on my digi-pack design, I thought ti would be time to think about the names of the tracks that will appear on my album. Having looking at Pixie Lott's album, here is a list of her songs:
1) Mama do (uh oh uh oh) 2) Cry me out 3) Band aid 4) Turn it up 5) Boys and Girls 6) Gravity 7) My love 8) Jack 9) Nothing compares 10) I wish I was there 11) The way the world works 12) Hold me in your arms So, looking at the names of her tracks, I thought I woudl do very similar names, but make them my own. Here is what I have come up with:
1) Papa Don't (mm hmm mm hmm) 2) Drown me in your tears 3) A & E 4) Pulse 5) Guys and Dollz 6) Space 7) Emotions 8) Tommy 9) Reflections 10) Wish I was there 11) Around the World 12) Don't Let go 13) the debut single - Broken Arrow
Only now is it that I realise there are already a lot of music videos that exist today which are all filmed and edited then produced in black and white. I think it is becoming more popular as it gives the video an overall more "professional" look and makes the video stand out from any others that have already been produced.
This following song "Wile out - Ms Dynamite ft Dj zinc is just one of these example. I like the video in black and white and how the beat has been edited in time with the clip transitions. Also, I really like the shots of Ms Dynamite when she is walking down the stairs with the graffiti on the walls. This would also be another idea which I could use for my digi-pack cover.
[video to be uploaded]
Here are a few print screens to show what I am talking about...
I was watching the music channels over the weekend and I noticed another video that was in black and white and used similar shot types and conventions that we have in ours. this video "Breathe slow - Alesha Dixon" is also a song about love, like "Broken Arrow - Pixie Lott" and so similar slow pans, close ups of her face and smooth transitions are used to fit the mood of the song. I also really like the contrasts used in some of the clips as it is really soft and makes Alesha stand out from the background.
[Youtube wont let me uplaod any videos to my blog - but will put this video on asap!]
Here are some print screen to give you an idea, until the video get's uploaded!
After making some final tweaks to our music video in last week's lessons, we have now uploaded to YouTube a second draft. We included more clips of Elle sitting against the brick wall (which myself and Elle had re filmed) and also put in another pan shot from the sky, down towards Elle resting against a gate. We also added in the reversed clips of Elle and Alex towards the end of the song to make the narrative of our song fit the lyrics more.
[wont let me uplaod video from Youtube - will upload asap!]
Here are some print screens until Youtube let's me upload the video...
In today's lesson our whole group was in so myself and Elle were finally able to show the rest of our group what we had completed in the lesson they had missed. They really liked what we had done and they were also able to come up with some new ideas.
Where we have inserted the "stop motion" clip into our music video where the cupid emotion is firing an arrow, Emma said to use the Imovie tool of "picture within a picture" and so that underneath the stop motion we could put a clip of Elle and Alex so the two clips blend into one. We tried it and it looks good, but we still don't know whether we are going to include it in our final version.
Also looking at the music video, Elle who had come to the media room in her free periods the other day had made some further changes that I hadn't yet seen. She had added some clips of herself and Alex towards the end of the music video to give the video more narrative as we have already got a lot of performance clips of Elle singing. When the clips had been added, she "reversed" them to add to the whole "flashback" idea so it looked like they were looking back on the memories. She also ended the music video with 2 happy clips as the piano music that ends the song is quite happy, so she put in a clip of Alex giving her a "piggy back" and ending with a kiss by a tree with a pan up to the sky and then fading to black. I really like the changes that Elle made and I'm hoping now that all we need to do is finishes touches!
Going back to my original artist research, I remember I did some on the unique group called "The Streets" with it's main member Mike Skinner. I then went back and looked t my research and I remembered that a certain song of theirs "Never went to church", the video is all in black and white, just like ours is.
I love this video because I think the black and white really portrays the emotion in this song about losing a loved one. There are some really nice scenic shots and close ups of Mike which I could also take into consideration when it comes down to designing my digipack. The close ups re really good and I love how his face is in contrast and the rest of the background is slightly out of focus. Here are a few print screens of my favourite shots from this video and have given me excellent inspiration for my digi-pack cover.
These two print screen I like because the mise en scene is excellent. I love the first image of Mike walking along a platform nearby to a river of some sort, with the beautiful mountain in the background. Obviously, when it comes to my digi-pack I need to keep my ideas realistic and that there are no mountains anywhere near I live! So, instead, I will focus on the river idea and perhaps get a photo of Elle walking long a bridge near the River Thames. The second image I really like because of the snow on the platform with the train pulling in. I love that the snow stands out in the black and white effect. However, because its February, the lack of snow is here so I will perhaps have a really unique image of Elle standing in the middle of train platform, perhaps smoking a cigarette, with the train pulling past her in the background.
These next two print screens were taken from the part of the video where Mike Skinner is sitting on the train. I love the image where is he looking out of the window and you can see his reflection on the window. This could be an option and if Elle is looking out of the window, it shows that she has a lot on her mind and this reflects with the title of the songs on her album. The second print screen is very relevant to our music video as he too, is looking at a Polaroid photo and looking back on a memory. I thought of another idea which I can do for my digi-pack is by taking a photo of someone holding Polaroid photo with a picture of Elle on it. This way, Elle is still included on the cover, but she is represented as a memory instead.
This screen shot is the favourite of all the ones I have taken from the video. I love it because it is both a scenic shot, but with Mike incorporated in to it in a clever way. I could perhaps take a picture similar to this, but use a car window for a reflection rather then the caravan/trailer shown in this shot.
The final print screen I have chosen is a close up of Mike's face. I really like this as the composition of the shot is perfect and within the headroom that is left, I will still be able to put in all the necessary details that re needed on a digi-pack such as the price, title etc. I also love the fact that in black and white, this shot will really capture the emotion in Elle's eyes and how she is feeling whilst singing the song "broken arrow".
Having completed some research into album covers and digi packs that are available, I am beginning to work on my own design fro what will be my digi-pack cover. I was thinking because we have chosen as a group to make our music video in black and white, for the front cover of the digi-pack I would like a shot of Elle against a background that will really make her stand out. I have taken a few print screens (which are in colour) which I will convert to black and white in photo shop of the sort of cover idea I am looking for. The printscreens I have included here are from "filming day 5 footage" where myself and Elle went and took some more close up shots, fter looking at the exam brief nd trying to ensure we had completed everything on the checklist in order to get the highest mrk and grade possible.
This is a shot of Elle against a brick wall. I love the composition of this shot and think when put in black and white it will look really effective. Also, I like the way Elle is looking directly towards the camera and this will bring the audience into buying the album more as it will catch their attention straight away.
This is another idea in which I can use. Rather then having Elle against a simple background, I may use this shot of her leaning against the white gate and looking down. I like the fact that she is looking down as this is showing the expression of how she is feeling in this album, as most of the songs are emotional and about love and feelings. I also like that Elle, the focus, is in the foreground and yet the background of the shot is slightly unfocused. This will look perfect in black and white for what I want on my digi-pack cover.
Of the three print screens, this is my favourite. When in black and white, the contrast of the white wall will really make Elle stand out. I also like how the rule of thirds is composed in this shot as there is space either side of her and also enough head room. In these spaces I will include the elements that re also included in a digi pack such as the bar code, album name/title with the artist's etc.
So, from my research I have decided that my image on the my digi-pack will definitely be black and white and will include an image of Elle with a certain background, being it a brick wall with great composition, or leaning against a gate, with a good background.
Having looked over our film again, myself and Elle realised we needed a variety of close ups and different shots to make our video's performance more choppy and professional, changing different clips and locations in time with the beat.
So we are going to go out to film with the camera as soon as it is charged to get more shots as I am wearing my hair up and have a completely different look to the previous shots.
Myself and Elle are currently in the media room discussing different fonts to use for our digi-packs as well as possibly having 'Pixie Mix' at the opening of our song..
We googled Pixie Lotts actual font on her album cover but no luck, so we typed in 'scribble font and crayon font' and found a few to download. They're not the exact same as the original Pixie Lott, but nethertheless they look really good!
Unfortunatly 'blogger' will not let us upload these fonts onto a post!
As i got in from school today, on MTV they were showing "the best of Pixie Lott" and seems as this is our chosen artist I decided to watch it. I liked seeing the variation of shots, colour, mise en scene etc that Pixie uses in each video. A lot of her songs have a hidden message within them, particularly the one we chose, "broken arrow".
Most of her songs are upbeat and happy songs and so bright colours and costumes are used to reflect the mood of the song. However, "cry me out" is a much sadder song and so the video is completely in black and white. I love the way it doesn't use any colour at all and I think this really portrays the emotion of the song well.
After watching this music video, I have decided that I think we should use all black and white as it fits the mood of the song and I think, overall, will make the music video look more professional.
Again, in my free periods, myself and Elle went to the media room to continuing editing as we want to get it finished as soon as possible so we can concentrate on the theory side to our exam. So, we edited again for another two hours and managed to produce this:
It's not completely finished yet and there are still some bits that myself and Elle are going to hopefully put into it in our free periods at school tomorrow.
We also showed what we have produced so far to our teacher and she really enjoyed it, she did give us a few feedback pointers to work on:
- to make sure we covered every shot that the exam board wants to get top marks (so we perhaps need a better variety of shots as we have a lot of close ups) - to include some hints of colour as it will make the video look more interesting (we may use colour match tool on final cut bro to just keep the shot black and white but highlight certain things in colour) - add more clips of Elle and her boyfriend to break up the performance shots
Last week, the music video wasn't really in order and all the clips were jumbled up. So, on Monday in my free periods, myself and Elle stayed in school to try and sort this problem out.
We managed to get all the clips we wanted in our film ll in one place together to avoid confusion when putting the clips together, so this really helped! We also had a look at what we had already edited and realised that because some of our music video was filmed on the flip camera which is in HD and some on the normal camera which isn't, the contrast in different locations didn't match and looked very unprofessional. So, after much debate and discussion, myself and Elle decided to put all the clips in black and white as this made the music video look a lot more professional.
So, after a 2 hour editing session, myself and Elle are pleased with the work we have done and can't wait to start getting a move on with the rest of it!
