Digipak and poster:

Improved Digipak content: New photos:

These are all new photos I have taken, I could potentially use any of them for my new and improved Digipak and poster. I plan to edit the images if necessary, and will base my new front cover on the Calvin Harris album that has just been released. Except this cover will be more fitting to my own music video. Also, I am planning to use a pattern-based shot for each of my inside panels. While some used panorama shots, some people used a pattern or design that was consistent in all of the inside panels. I will use the brick wall from one of these images to create my own pattern to use. This should gain me higher marks. (Not that it will be hard to do that.)

New Digipak inspiration:

Based on the negative feedback I recieved for my Digipak and poster, a lot of improvements will be required to achieve the higher, or in my case, even acceptable grades. Despite various tips of small improvements to be made, none some like they could boost me up to the high marks at this stage. After all, making minor improvements would hardly boost me from 3/20 marks AKA 15% approx. to a high, exceptional grade, could it?
My latest inspirational actually comes from the latest number 1 album that has just been released...

The most recent album cover on the BBC number 1 list is nothing more than a simple design, one that I could be inspired by for my own production. The cover is basically a fitting, well looking image with the main artist placed in a position, with simple, fitting text and lines that serve as the main title. The design is easy to produce, yet it works so well. Enough to be attractive enough as BBC's number 1 album as of November the 4th 2012.

My new idea will use this as a general example or template. I could very easily use a wall or content fitting surface to use as the primary background of my Digipak front cover. I could feature in the shot in an appropriate appearance and position. Then adding simple but fitting text should not be too difficult to do. If this attempt works, I could actually transfer from a 3/20 fail grade to somewhere around full marks standards. The attempt will have to be successful, though.

Peer assessment:

Some feedback I given to peers on their draft Digipak and poster:
George Hill
Harry Cooper
Michael and Charlie
Mothership
Shannon and Charlotte
Stephen Hare

Digipak peer feedback:

The overall feedback has been generally negative, unfortunately. It appears that my peers and teacher all agree the Digipak and poster are of a low standard for a number of justified reasons, and the current level of my draft design is that of a level 1 or low level 2. Either way, such a condition is unacceptable, so I will now reflect on my feedback.

1: A point made was that my front cover, the image and photography should be altered. Apparently my intended effect to use a black and white enlarged effect to portray emphasis towards the negative emotion related to the narrative of the video was deemed ineffective, and poorly produced. With this, my reaction for the front cover is to change photography and create a more easily understandable effect, and an overall more attractive and appealing front cover image.

2: The panel with the lyrics needs to be changed. Remove the drawing and then delete all lyrics. In place of the removed content, perhaps some additional company details and/or congratulations notes should be added to it.

3: The poster needs to be completely redesigned. Use more fitting and less random fonts, remove the drawing and use photography. Also use a better structure and layout.

Filming production:

This post examines the journey I taken during the filming stages of my draft music video.

1. The first stage of the filming was to take the outside shots set at the start of the video. I took the footage with a camera on 30.10.12. AKA Halloween night. Therefore, I had plenty of time to take the footage as at this time of the year. There was only one of these shots to take, but it was a long one. I applied the drunken feel of the shot to the video via a certain movement. Since it was a third-person handheld shot, the camera focused on the view in front of me. With the ‘drunk man’ walk I was using to move, the video camera was producing a blurry shot, even an unintentional temporal black-out half way through the shot. While this would initially appear to be sloppy production, it actually strongly relates to that of the narrative content of the video.

2. Once the outside shot was taken and without distraction, the next stage was to execute the other 5 pre-song shots. I quickly placed dirty clothes, a spilt beer can and some newspapers on the floor to make the place appear less clean and more like a pit of degradation. Once done so, I quickly pointed the camera towards the intended shot of the room. A quick pan shot was taken, showing emphasis on the mess that has been made as part of the placed mise-en-scene of the shot. The next shot was the beer one. Originally intended to use a bottle, a beer can was all I had access to at the time, but the intended effect remains. I spilt the beer around the can and onto the table for its intended effects of portraying sloppy living and an open and unhealthy lifestyle my character is living. Then the following shots involved the shirt being dirty, which I placed stains onto for the filming, the shot of the side of my face to show depression, and finally the shot of the playing but not being watched TV to show lack of focus. Once these shots were quickly taken, I moved onto the main filming...

3. The main filming during the progression of the lyrics was probably the most simple part. At least the first half of the song was. I simply had to put on a mad face in front of the camera while displaying the appropriate facial expressions. Then keep it there for at least the time required while the first few song verses play.

4. The inbetween shots which took place in the middle of the song were the most difficult to place into the video while still conforming to my song timings. The shots I taken were not long enough even when combined, to fill up all the time in the middle of the song between the 2 sets of verses. I had to expand this part of the video by using new shots, or expanding time of the original shots, and how long they played in the music video. I had to use a substitute image instead of the one I was originally going to use. More replacement material had to be used for the next stage...

5. The second half of the filming during the lyrics had to be taken while I actually sang, thus the requirement for accurate lip sync. Due to time constraints, the quality of this that I could gather from this is limited in the editing stages. I will have to progress well to achieve getting this video to a decent level. The substitutions also continue here as well. The female performer was unable to make it and will be for the near future. I will be able to use her for filming of the final video product, but not for the draft version. Hence a few changes will be made. For instance, instead of the girl walking with me in the sunset during the last shot, the final shot will now be me walking up the stairs, followed by a quick shot of the camera zooming away from my face, both to visually represent that while the camera is moving away from me and vice versa, so is the problem for the character I portray in the video.

Draft music video:

This is my draft video, filmed and edited. Many improvements will likely be required, but here is what has been produced as of 02/11/12. This is a video that has been planned for a while now...