Back page of Digipak

Imagine Dragons back page

Our group took inspiration from the back cover from imagine dragons. As we felt that imagine dragons back page conveyed similar conventions as our band.

The colour of the digipak is primarily black with simplistic white text. The small text to prove copyright was also very hidden and discrete which our group felt that we should continue.

Our groups back page

Despite our group taking inspiration from the imagine dragons back page our cover page still looks completely different.

The background is the same as the front page as my group felt that we should continue the texture throughout the digipak. The text we used was to carry out the continuity with the front page. In order to enhance the text behind the text I had to use the paint tool to add a black colour on the text allowing it to stand out.

Adding to the Digipak

Background

I want the background to be very stylish look for the space therefore as I was in school I noticed one guy that was wearing a very stylish jumper. The colours suited the colour of outta space but looked very interesting. However to bring out the black colour I had to add the pin light effect onto the texture without getting rid of the white in the picture.

The Planet

As i didn't want to copy a picture form google onto our band cover I felt that I had to find a picture of a rock or something with a similar shape. However my friend recommended taking picture of a  teachers bald head this immediately was brushed off. However once I saw my bald math teacher Mike playing pool it immediacy reminded me of the planned therefore I sneakily took a picture of his head!

Band Members on the planet

 The concept was tho have one of the band members standing on the planet alone a bit like the Imagine Dragons songs. As I was truly inspired by the image on the imagine dragon logo. However this didn't work out for our band album as the background is too dark and doesn't stand out enough.





 However as I was walking back after I took pictures of the drummer I saw and interesting shadow that gave me an idea on what to add onto the planet. I though it would be simple yet artistic. This seemed perfect however all of the shadows was all the same therefore I had to add the paint tool to fill in the hands to make them all seem different.

Title

 

For the title Perry found a bunch of different fonts to see, which one would suit more with the band. Then I used a paint brush tool to make a paint look towards the album with some wavy text. However Perry wasn't fond of this idea therefore as we were looking though different font he preferred called long distance call regular. 

Beginning of the making of the Album cover

As I spoke with everyone in the group we felt we should have this album should have a out of the world feeling. Therefore Freddie had this concept of having the man on the moon. Having a astronaut holding a flag of the band (lion). 

Therefore I tried out this concept however I felt that it didn't have that same feel/appearance as Feddie pitched it. I think its because the moon looks epic however the cartoon of the man of the moon doesn't stand out. This defeats the purpose of the “man of the moon” and I felt it would have been cooler having a picture of one of the band members in a astronaut suit like an actual picture on the moon. However this was too optimistic for our bands first band album.

However I didn't want to steer away from the idea of outer space. Therefore I spoke with a few of the art students within my school and explained them the concept then they illustrated me the concept. When I spoke to teacher about this concept the told me that he though that the drawing seemed to have a very metal approach.

 However this gave me the idea to carry on the idea of how the planets are arranged. Therefore i had found the base of the digipak! However I felt to make the digi pack more artistic I had to add/change the planet.

Digi Pack - Beginning

As our group began to think about how the digi-pack would look like we looked at serval different album covers from alternative rock bands. This would give our group a base to how our digipak should look like. The one standout thing that all these albums had in common was that they all had some sort of animation and didn't have any pictures of the band member. Therefore I felt that our band cover should not consist of any pictures of the band members in the front page.

After Effects

One of the huge debates I had with the media department was whether or not to have a security guard within my music video too show at the end of the music video the band isn't real and just imaginary. This was a way for my group to add some kind of narrative towards the music video as I felt having a all performance music video may be seen boring towards some people.

However as I was editing this I made a simple mistake during the recording stages as I forgot to record the band playing without the security guard in the scene or vise visa where there should be a pan without the ban in the scene this meant that I couldn't have the smooth transition I wanted to have. Therefore as a whole I chose not the have the narrative within my music video

Feedback for Website

From the feed-back we were given the main objective we had to change was the background photo. This was because we were still learning how to use Wix making it look unfinished and unprofessional. Many people think the gallery seemed very scruffy as the positioned well. Another thing was that people felt that the website didn't suit the genre of the band as it seemed very indie and didn't have a lot of rock elements inside.

Website

Our group chose to use Wix as a website maker. This was due to the fact that they found WordPress more complex and not very user-friendly. My group then watched tutorials on the basics how to use Wix therefore, it gave us a basis on where to start. Due to Wix's large number of available templates with different theme's given it seemed like a more viable option.

My group went for the Jazz Musician template as it had a very urban feel towards it plus it also reminded us of the Imagine Dragons website, due to its simplicity. Our group had also planned a photo shoot of the band in order to add more pictures on our gallery.

Update

These are the few photo's we were able to grab in the studio alongside with photo's on our shoot day. Now the way we are going to carry forward with this is by eliminating some photos which don't seem to fit with each other.

Feedback from Editing

As i have finished my cut of the music video I went out to seek advise on the editing of the music video. Therefore as I presented the music video I received various different feedbacks, which I would choose to follow or ignore:

• Extend the time lapse of the the city outside

I was told this by various different people as they believe that the shot duration should be longer as its a very beautiful shot. Initially as the the weather in UK is very inconsistent therefore I thought it would be nicer if it was shorter. Nevertheless I thought it would be nicer to have a longer shot of the time lapse as it made our music video more dynamic. 

• Continuity of some of the shots

Personally I felt continuity is key within my music video. However as I was editing there are some shots that need to be placed in order to make it seem more upbeat and fast. This obviously meant that there was going to be a few continuity flaws nevertheless the fact that I am editing means I am naturally going to stress about all the small details however once I showed it to a large no. of people they didn't notice any difference. Therefore I only made a few tiny patch ups of some of the continuity mistakes.

• Reduce the time spent on the roof before it pans down (night time shot)

As the roof is not seen through out the music video my group felt maybe it would be nicer if it had a shot duration time on the roof. This was because as the time lapse was shorter this meant there was more time spent on the camera facing the roof therefore as I extended the time lapse then the time spent on facing the roof was shorter. Meaning that the problem was already fixed!

• Lighting!

One thing I haven't done in my music video was colour grading therefore it meant that the change in the day time was very disjointed meaning I would have to colour grade each shot to make them similar.












As a whole I received positive feedback from my style of editing through the use of short and simple cuts. As I felt for our music video we needed to cut to most of the drum beats so make our music video more interesting as we didn't have a narrative to cut into. As we had a wide range of different shot it allowed me to more flexible with the editing and not show the same shot after two cuts.

Editing

 The good thing about Premier pro is the overall design it has making it very easy to synchronise different footages by looking at the different separate recording audio tracks with their video counterparts. Especially as the premier pro allows the audio and footage to automatically link up, which helps save up so much time.

Premier Pro also has JKL trimming, which refers to keyboard shortcuts when you cut and trim video. This allows you to scrub and trim video continuously. This allows them to make precise cuts to the footage other than making a cut.

Update on Editing

When I started editing I had to first sync up all the footage together with the soundtrack therefore making it easier to preview different section for different bits. The way I did this was by looking looking at the sound wave levels of the song and the footage sound. This allowed me to link the two footages together, this allows me to select the footages more clearly and in sync. 

Evaluation Of Shootday

What did you do the day before, to set up for your shoot day?

The day before the shoot our group printed out all the information that our group required like the shot list, the short board and the equipment we required. I ensured that our group had all the equipment like the 2 amps and guitar leads, which we received in the music department in our school. The props that we required for the bodyguards like torch light, Hi-Vis jackets and walkie talkie was brought in the day before to ensure we had in for the day of the shoot. I also rehearsal the song with our lead singer to ensure he knew all the words inside and out so during the shoot we would have no problems.

How did you feel when you woke up on the morning of the shoot day?

In the morning, I felt thrilled and excited as I was confident because all of the props and equipment were at school. Therefore, all we had to do was just to load up the equipment into the bus. As we had cross-checked all the information using a list of everything we needed.

How well prepared were you when you arrived for the shoot, what did you have to do before you could start shooting?

Before we set off to the location I made sure that each member of the group had brought what was told them to bring. As we had a lesson in the morning we put all of the equipment/costumes properly together.


Describe what the studio looked like when you started to shoot, how well do you feel you managed to create the look of your concept?

When we first arrived on location everything was as expected as our group had a picture of the carpark and how it would look like. This helped our group out as we had previously planned the mise en scene within the location for example where each of the band members would be located within the when playing.

How did you divide the roles on your shoot day, what role(s) did you play?
Everyone in our group was assigned a role based on their technical ability. Therefore, I opted for camera man as I have had a lot of past experience with these cameras. We did this in order to be more effect and not waste time rotating roles as it would be a waste of time. We each choose our role based on what our group that was best for each other.

What do you think that you personally did particularly well?

Personally, I thought I did well as a cameraman however in the beginning I may have taken a while trying to get used to the focus. Especially as our group didn't request to use the follow focus, this made it harder to focus shots when we were on the dolly. However to an extent as it's a rock music video the shaky shifts in focus can be used as an advantage to match the energy.

What problems did you have on the shoot day, how did you solve them?

Most of our shots consisted mostly of our bands playing therefore there was not a lot of narrative shots to be filmed. This meant we mostly just had to film the band playing in the carpark. However during the shoot day, we only had 1 power generator therefore, we had to preserve the battery this meant the guitarist wasn’t able to plug in his amp, which will be fixed in the post production (editing) later. Therefore, we had to ensure the guitarist played the guitar convincingly.

Which part of the shoot do you think was most successful and why?

The most successful shots were the tracking shots and the hand-held shots as it had the most edge, which had typical conventions of a rock music video. Alongside with getting all the shots we needed with the given time period we had.

Which part of the shoot do you wish had gone better and why?

I wished we had filmed a larger portion of the music video at night as it seemed more entertaining during the night shots. I also wished we were able to add more time to film a short narrative section at the end of the music video as I wanted to test out the narrative concept.

How well do you think you managed your talent (actors)?

Perry and I were able to spot out mistakes/positioning the actors made and quickly fixed it. As most of our actors are very talented it meant that they were able to pull off the convincing element to make it seem believable. As a whole, I felt that whenever we spotted a mistake the actors would quickly fix the mistake.

Behind The Scenes

Band Together/Maybe Album Cover?

On our location we found some very beautiful backgrounds, this gave me the opportunity to snap a few pictures together. I feel the picture that we capture helped to illustrate the band being as one while having that cool look towards it. This will help us hopefully when producing the digi pack

Ensuring our that we are organised during the shoot

I printed out to every member in the group that our shot list and storyboard giving hem a clear idea on what we are going to film. This helps so everyone is on the same page when we are filming our music video. 

Last Minute Preparations

Our group constructed a list of the things that our group would require before we leave the bus. This would help us see what items we are missing, so that nothing will get left behind.

List of props and costumes

Band Scene props 

• Guitar
• Jungle logo
• Strap
• Drums
• Microphone + stand
• 3 x amps
• Amp leads
• Smoke grenades
• Drumsticks

Band Scene Costumes

• Black shirt (Freddie)
• Actors bringing in own costumes
• Bandana
• Extra black items of clothing
• Black tie (Freddie)
• White t shirt
• Max’s blue shirt
• Max’s black t shirt

Security guard scene props

• 2 x walkie talkie
• Amp lead 
• Torch

Security guard scene costumes

• Grey jumpers
• Hi vis jackets
• Black tie
• White shirt
• Smart shoes (black)
• Trousers

Band Rehearsal

This is a video of our band rehearsal. This helps to show us the ability of each band members on the instruments and how much of the song they know.

Band Image

Today we took a picture of the band all together. In general the band works well together however we could experiment more with the guitarist hair plus it may suit the guitarist more not to wear the glasses. The drummer suits the rock theme and matches very well with the song. The guitarist is a very skilled despite him not having the rocker look however he bring an alternative look suiting well for alternative rock. The singer Max Boast is able to sell the song making it seem realistic giving the band a slight edge. In another blog post I will post a video of the band paying all together.

Band Rehearsal

Today was our first successful band rehearsal! We used the music room to practice the band playing together. When we were rehearsing the drummer was initially playing the guitar however he said he would play drums better. At the end it fitted with the bands image.

Pros

• The band looks well together and they play well together
• The drummer and the guitarist link really well together

Cons

• When we were all rehearsing together it was hard for each band member to hear each other(sync).

Lead Singer Costume

Our group was testing out our costumes for our lead singer, we decided that we would want this very natural/care free look towards it. However our group liked the jeans that Max was wearing and thought it suited the role of the character Max is trying to convey. The button up shirt looks also adhere's to the character. The t-shirt may look better if it was black rather then white as it may alternate rock band not many of the lead singer wears white.

However his general accessories is very simple however effective as wearing a simple wrist watch looks effective. It adds a stylic yet cool element towards him.

Textual Analysis of Similar Products

On Friday our group looked into similar bands websites therefore we would have a general idea of how our website would look like. Therefore we looked at all the websites and compared them to each other. The one thing we noticed is in the genre Alternative Rock it the websites can be very different depending on the bands believes i.e. usually conveyed through colour. However all them have a very cool and simplistic style towards it.

Testing Out Effect

As I was explaining this one effect some of my group members some of them wanted to see how it would look like. Therefore I tested out this effect using my camera to show my group members.

I made this effect by recording two separate clips, one is the camera panning behind the character without anyone in the frame and one with someone in the frame. In order to make the frames match I had to use Premier Pro to scale both the videos in order to make the shots in the frame similar. However during the shooting day if we use a slider then we wouldn't have to spend time editing to patch the clips as I recorded it using a handheld shot.

Shot List

Shot No.	Description	Actor req	Shot	shot list
1	Guard 1 Looking around with torch light	Guard 1	Wide	2
2	Close up of his face looking around (suspicious)	Guard 1	Close up of face	3
3	Guard 1 finds a power generator	Guard 1	Close up of power generator and foot	4
4	Guard looking down on generator (confused why theres a power generator) linked with shot no.3	Guard 1	Low angle of guard looking down on the generator	5
5	Guard looking around asking himself “why is this here?” (quietly)	Guard 1	Wide	6
6	Guard brings out the walkie talkie ask the other guard why its there	Guard 1	Close up / Wide	7
7	The confused why the other guard isn't responding?	Guard 1	Close up / Wide	9
8	Wide shot of Guard 1 on the walkie talkie and walks away	Guard 1	High Angle is meant to look like a camera shot (security camera)	10
9	Guard 1 on the walkie talkie “asking where are they”	Guard 1	Mid/wide shot	27
10	Walks back to the office	Guard 1	Wide	10
11	Guard 1 walking around trying to find the band	Guard 1	Camera behind him following guard 1	26
12	Guard 1 turns around looking for band	Guard 1	Mid Shot	29
13	Guard 1 walking towards camera back to office	Guard 1	Mid Shot	31
14	Guard 1 turns around looking for band and walks to office security camera angle	Guard 1	security camera angle	28/ mixed with security guard   30
1	Guard 1 walks into the door x 2 film it twice. One he looks out to double check and one he just walks in	Guard 1	Wide shot	11
1	Guard 1 walks out the door	Guard 1	Wide Shot	25
1	Both guards come out the door (Guard 2 comes out first (4 sec before))	Guard 1 & 2	Wide Shot	41
2	Guard 2 standing still staring at (where band is meant to be) and guard 1 walks up to guard 2	Guard 1 & 2	Camera facing their back	42
3	Guard 2 staring at where band is meant to be and Guard 2 taps guard 1 on the shoulder (looking confused)	Guard 1 & 2	Mid shot	43
4	The guard looks at the guard 2 and looks (at where the band is meant to be)	Guard 1	Close up hopping to do a circle around guard 1 to show how there is no one there	44
5	The empty space (where the band is meant to be)	none	Wide shot of empty carpark	45
1	As Guard 1 leaves through the door the other band walks through	Guard 1 & Band	Wide Shot	12
2	Band walking into area (where they will play)	Band	Wide Shot (follow them from behind)	13
3	Band Playing… Each band member	Band	close up of every member….
4	Band playing… (security camera angle	Band	High angle (security camera)
5	Guard 1 trying to find the band and walks off (back to office) while band is playing in-front of them	Band & Guard 1	High angle (security camera)	28/30
6	Close up of the band winking at camera	Band	Mid Shot	48
7	Guard 2 from behind his head  as you firs see there is nothing then as you pan across his head you see band playing	Guard 2 & band		46 & 47
1	Aerial shots of car park	none	drone	1
2	Camera on the ceiling	none	Shot of camera with lights blinking	36