George Thresher 9188: Final Production and Evaluation

Digipak

Advertisement

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

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

 

What have you learned from your audience feedback?
































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

Web 2.0

www.Blogger.com was the e-portfolio we used to collaborate all of our planning, progress and our evaluations throughout the entire production process. Blogger enabled us to portray our own individual findings, as well as displaying the work we produced as a group. Furthermore, Blogger allowed us to plan every aspect of our production, and edit them whenever an idea developed or altered. For example, the treatment we created was eventually altered completely, but the process in which we developed our ideas is evident along the timeline of posts, which was also, very easy to navigate since all the dates and post authors are labelled clearly.

We also made use of www.surveymonkey.com as another form of Web 2.0 to help gather an insight into how audiences interpret our music video, digipak and advert. We distriuted a variety of open and closed questions, of which we received approximately 20 responses. Survey Monkey was extremely useful in creating the statistical data for us, offering us an insight into percentages for each question. This in-turn, allowed to view what concise changes we could make to our music video and print work.

www.youtube.com also provided a great source, in terms of research. When analysing our chosen artist, Jack Garratt, we had to note certain characteristics regarding his music videos. Such as the naturalistic settings he uses, in which we were able to reflect through our location of the woods. We were also able to analyse the stock clothing he uses as well as the lack of props, leaving for a more authentic and personal representation.

Hardware

The camera we used was a Canon EOS 600D, the same camera we used to film our opening horror film sequence at AS level. We established one of the main strengths of our AS work to be the use of the pull focus shots, so we incorporated them into our music video for A2. It was also evident from our audience research that the pull focus shots and the tracking shots were favoured by the our demographic. Furthermore, the valuable camera meant the clarity of each shot was exceptional (1080p), offering more visually effective shots, where colours were more vibrant and therefore more meaningful, since the use of colour grading and contrast was vital in our representations of youth and childhood.

The Canon was also capable of shooting high resolution shots, whilst being able to store them in large quantities, as well as maintaining a long lasting battery. This saved us time since we only made one visit to each location of shooting, and enabled us to shoot for however long we needed and gain a large number of shots to choose from in the editing process.

Editing

The editing software we used was Adobe Premiere Element 9.0. Throughout our AS editing process we never encountered issues in terms of difficulty when editing because it involved simply cropping clips and inserting layers of sound over the top of them, which was simply a matter of time rather than technique. However, when editing our music video we wanted to incorporate a series of fades to signify Harry's death, which was both a time consuming process, as well as a challenging one. For example, we had to match two sections of the clip with one another, so when the fade occurred we maintain continuity.  It was, nevertheless, successful when completed. Furthermore, we included intercuts between the past and present day with the children walking passed a tree followed by the intercut of George walking past in order to connote reminiscing and the fact time had passed. This meant splitting each clip in half, and then weaving them together. We also made use of colour grading throughout the video in order to segregate the intercuts and avoid confusion between the past and the present, and also to convey a sombre tone. One of the most challenging editing process was fading an entire shot from colour to black and white, whilst timing it in conjunction with Harry fading out of shot. This was another time consuming process that eventually succeeded.

Lastly, the primary objective when editing was to ensure the shot cuts matched the beat of the soundtrack, otherwise the video would look unprofessional and disjuncted. This, again, was a time consuming process since when adjusting a clip previously edited to synchronise with the beat of the soundtrack, it would desynchronise the clips that followed it.

Software

Finally, we used Photoshop to create our digipak and advert. We gathered a series of images from our shoots in order to edit in Photoshop, one of which was a profile shot of Tom Whitson, who shared certain characteristics with our artist Jack Garratt (mainly the beard and hat). We adjusted the font 'Typographica' so it would share the same style as Jack Garratt's, with the iconic 'A' missing the left slant. The colour scheme of red, green and black was used in order to match the music video. For example, one of the younger actors wears a bright red shirt, and the older actor, George, wears dark clothing, making the video relatable to the digipak. We also altered the entire background, since the image was taken in front of a green screen. However, we simplymade the background blank so we could overlay it with the colour scheme. The back pane of the digipak features a pair of headphones. We used the headphones in order to keep the artist relatable, and remind the audience of that fact he's a recording artist. From there, we used the same colour scheme, and adjusted the saturation in order to increase the vibrancy of the colours. Lastly, we added the 'Island Records' and other various logos to the final image, as well as a barcode for a more realistic and representative look. Our middle panes were constructed with the image taken from our Bedgebury shoot, in which we attained a visually attractive still image of two tree lines. This not only relates the digipak back to the music video, but also looked effective when spread across two panes.

When creating our advert, we wanted to keep it relative to the music video and the digipak; we accomplished this by using the same colour scheme throughout. In terms of the typography, we used the same 'Typographica' font used in the digpak, however due to the background colours interfering with the colour of the text we originally wanted, we had to colour each word uniquely, as seen here.

The main challenge we faced was deciding upon the narrative resolution. We initially implied the death of the brother by showing George placing the picture of him back on a desk, however we replaced the scene with a graveyard scene in order to confirm the death of the brother.



Research

Print Analysis- Jack Garratt
Camera Techniques Analysis
Technical Analysis
Promotional Campaign Analysis
Moodboard 1
Moodboard 2
Comparison of Two Music Videos
Justin Bieber Analysis
Audience Research 1
Audience Research 2

Planning

Concept Development
Potential Digipak Designs
Filming Schedule
Pitch Progression From AS
Treatment

Logistics

Logistics and Planning
Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 1
Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 2
Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 3
Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 4


Production


Reflection on Shoot 1
Reflection on Shoot 2
Reflection on Shoot 3
Reflection on Shoot 4
Brighton Practice Shoot
Digipak Production Task


Post-Production

Advert Progress 1
Advert Progress 2
Advert Progress 3
In-Class Individual Role

Harry Garside 9070: Final Production and Evaluation

 

 

 

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination your main product and ancillary products?

Evaluation Question 3: What did we learn from our audience feedback?

The target audience for the album/artist is 12-29, this is because of Garratt’s indie pop genre that he often incorporates into his music. This is similar to artists such as Lana del Rey and Adele, who are also placed in this category. Consequently, we are trying to appeal to a wide pop demographic which is stereotypically young, despite some of the serious messages conveyed in Garratt’s music, such as bereavement/break-ups. It was important to test our concept in pre-production to an audience (in our pitch) because we were able to discover the audience expectations for our music video. The results showed us that the narrative (of two brothers both young and old, as well as George alone) was extremely strong, and visually interesting. We also used an audience questionnaire shortly after this process, where we discovered many other expectations from our demographic. This included which shots we should incorporate, for example pull-focus shots and tracking shots. As well as this, we also discovered that our audience believed we should adopt both a slow and fast-cutting rate in our piece. This particular process of a questionnaire gave us several ideas as to what our audience want to see in our music video.

 

Evaluation Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, evaluation and planning stages? 

We used blogger.com as a collaborative e-portfolio in our group throughout the planning, construction and evaluation.  In terms of group posts, it was useful to input clips such as production logs in order to update our progress. As well as this, blogger.com was particularly practical in terms of planning, for example, in posts such as the treatment, where we were all able to contribute to the post using a group login. Furthermore, blogger.com was a very useful form of web 2.0 in terms of individual planning. This is because it enabled me to embed videos and pictures, for example when referring to videos which inspired me e.g. Pull me Down (Mikky Ekko, 2015). Furthermore, I have managed to input more detail into my posts, using more images to allow a better understanding. On the other hand, at AS I used far less images, with the majority of my posts being presented as purely text. This is an example of a far more presentable post in comparison with AS, utilizing web 2.0 to attach images (http://twgsbmedia15a2group9.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/hg-comparison-of-two-music-videos.html). Another progression from AS is the way I have commented on my colleagues' posts, advising them on how we could possibly incorporate their research into our piece. An example of this is below.

 

Survey Monkey

We carried out audience research prior to our pitch using Survey Monkey, this was useful as we were able to gain a variety of responses, utilizing both open questions and closed questions (which, in particular gave us a more detailed idea from our demographic) Survey monkey was particularly useful as once the results were gathered together, (18 responses in total) it had the ability to put our data into tables/graphs in order to compare our results for each question (there is an example of a graph to the side of this text). This particular result showed us clearly that we should either use a slow-cutting rate, or interchange between both. Ironically, we utilized both elements in our piece, showing the important of the results to our final product. This is an example of web 2.0 as we are using an online survey to generate results from our target audience. As well as this, the previous process was also completed through the use of web 2.0, as I had to email several people inside our demographic to ask them to complete our online survey, with the response rate being fairly high. 

 Camera

 

Similarly to AS, we utilised the Canon EOS 600D digital SLR. Because of the quality of the camera, we knew we would be able incorporate focus shots, including pull focus shots. Therefore, in the survey we asked which shots our target demographic would like to see most (the evidence of this question is to the side of this text). This showed that tracking shots, zoom shots and pull-focus shots were the most popular shots, of all of which we managed to shoot in our video. We were very fortunate to be able to use this camera as it meant that our shots were of a higher resolution (600D).

Premiere

To edit the video, we used Adobe Premiere Elements 9.0. The main task that we encountered in Premiere this year was the use of fades, which we hadn't used previously in AS. The image to the side of the text showed how we were able to input a fade into our piece. The circle around the blue segment has a yellow line across it, which controls the efficiency of the fade. We dragged this line diagonally downwards, meaning that the brother would fade out gradually. To complete this process, we had to drag the dissolve transition (which is circled) on to the timeline.

 

Another task we faced was using the black and white filter to show George in the present. This particular idea challenged conventions of music videos, this is because usually the past would be in black and white and the present would be in colour, meaning that this element of our video was very much unconventional. The screenshot to the side of this text shows the process of the black and white filter in Premiere. The circle at the top right of the image showed the filter we wanted to use (Black and White), we therefore had to drag this filter to the segment of footage we wanted to change (where the other circle is positioned). The use of the black and white filter enabled us to convey the mood dejected and solemn mood of George, which coincided with the flashbacks to the brothers when they were younger.

 Photoshop

 

In Adobe Photoshop, we completed our whole digipak and advertisement campaign. In terms of the digipak, this is evidence of the front cover. We decided on an image of Tom, who looks similar to our artist Jack Garratt (in terms of his clothing, iconic hat and beard). In terms of the typography, I used a font named 'Typographica' which is similar to the font that Jack Garratt uses. As well as this, after doing some research into Garratt, he has a stylistic feature in his typography where he cuts off a section of the letter 'A' which we replicated in each of our panes. In terms of the editing of this pane, I originally decided on black and white, however, a colourful pane is more conventional of our artist (when looking at other EP's such as Remnants) and therefore, we chose to use a red/green/black effect on each our panes for continuity. In terms of the front pane, we used two different gradient colour mixes, selecting the three colours in order to achieve this colour effect. Furthermore, in terms of the typography, we used tools such as 'Drop Shadow', and 'Inner Glow' to make the dark text look more obtrusive on a colourful background. As well as this, at first the image with the gradient mixes was extremely vibrant, which was not the objective due to the solemnity of our campaign. Therefore, I enhanced the contrast and decreased the brightness to create a darker effect.

 

Photoshop continued

 

In terms of the middle panes, we chose the tree location at Bedgebury to go across two panes. This is because we wanted to create a parallel to our video, as it is where most of the memories between the brothers take place. For this particular image, we again (similarly to the front pane) enhanced the contrast, however, due to the image already being dark, we also enhanced the brightness. As well as this, we used the hue/saturation tool to further adjust the lighting of the pane. We also utilised the same colour scheme, though, this time it was far easier as we simply had to copy the layer, creating an adjustment layer on the new pane. This meant that the colour scheming for these two panes was almost identical.

 

 

 

Photoshop continued

 

When discussing the back pane of our music video, we utilised the same colour scheme as the previous pane, creating an adjustment layer and copying the gradient mix into our piece. In terms of the original image, we took a shot focusing on a pair of headphones to connote that Garratt is a recording artist. In terms of the typography, we used the 'Typographica' font for the songs in the album 'Phase', deciding to follow it around the edge of the headphone. Furthermore, when discussing the editing we altered the hue/saturation, as well as using a black and white effect on top of the colour scheme. Furthermore, we also had to add the island records label, a bar code, and also our own record label information, which we inserted into our piece.

 

 

Photoshop continued

 

In terms of our magazine advert, we decided to again create a parallel with our music video, this is because the two brothers are prominent in the advert, as well as the video. To create continuity, we again decided to use the same colour scheme, creating a copy and adjustment layer with the same gradient mix. Despite this, we added many new features which were dissimilar to the digipak, for example the call to action- iTunes logo, the web address and the release date of the album. Also, in terms of the typography we used the same font, though, because of the dissimilar woodland background, we had to make sure it still stood out. Therefore, we had to change the colour from black, to black and white, as well as a drop shadow 3D effect.

 

Challenges

 

The challenges we overcame were mainly how to end our video. We had many discussions throughout, but ended up having to film our piece without knowing what the narrative resolution would be, or whether there would even be one. We finally decided on a graveyard scene, connoting that the younger brother had died, meaning that there is a clear distinct ending to the video. Another challenge we faced was deciding whether to have one image across two panes, as we felt we may have been marked down due to the simplicity. Therefore, we had to make it more visually appealing, hence why we used the red and green colour scheming.

Navigation:

Research:

Print Analysis

Audience Research

Audience Research 2

Technical Analysis

Camera Techniques Analysis

Music Promo Analysis

Moodboard 1

Moodboard 2

Inspirational Music Videos

Justin Bieber Analysis

Metanarrative Analysis

Comparison of two music videos

 

Planning:

Concept Development

Filming Schedule

Treatment

Pitch Progression from AS

Brighton Reflection

Brighton Production Log
Storyboard Examples

 

Logistics:

Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 4

Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 3

Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 2

Call Sheet and Risk Assessment 1

Logistics and Planning

List of Film Shoots

 

Production:

Reflection on Shoot 4

Reflection on Shoot 3

Reflection on Shoot 2

Reflection on Shoot 1

Digipak Design

Lyrics for track

Brighton Practice Film

Digipak Production Task

 

Post-production:

Digipak Process 5

Digipak Process 4

Digipak Process 3

Digipak Process 2

Digipak Process 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

GT: In Class Individual Role

The majority of my efforts have gone into helping to create the digipak and advertisement for the music video. By using stills taken from our various shoots I've been able to manipulate features such as saturation and lighting as well as adding text relevant to the song and album by Jack Garratt.

The process has a lot of trial and error involved when trying to discover appropriate filters and effects. Many of these prototypes are discarded simply because they don't continue the theme we have included in our other digipak designs.

I have to keep in mind, when manipulating each photo, to retain a consistent theme with the digipak and advert. This ultimately means using the same overlays, saturation and hue, since the product we are creating should have a recognisable theme.

Another role I have is the editing process. Editing the primary product (music video) is a vital part of the entire campaign. this mainly involves cropping and inputting clips previously filmed at various locations into Premiere Elements. Each beat to the song has to line up with each shot cut, and different colour grading has to be applied to various points of the video. similarly with adjusting the advert and digipak, different shots can be manipulated on premiere, such as adjusting the saturation.

GT: Advert Progress 3

The progress made since the previous update has been minimal, since the advert is almost complete.
We have sharpened the appearance of the image by slightly altering the saturation again, and in doing so the image appears more realistic, rather than an having an overly saturated image. This meant that again we would have to go over Corey and Dylan's faces with a blemish tool in order to desaturate them and make them stand out.

I began inputting more text into the advert in order to familiarise it with an original form of advertising by Jack Garratt, seen in the image here. This should be visible on the next update post. Also, the text positioning will be matched to a greater extent, but due to the different framing of the two images it will be difficult to match the text positioning accurately.

A shadow has been added to the text to make it bolder, especially since the background of the advert blends in, to an extent, with the light colours of the text. Furthermore, when studying the font used by Garratt in his album covers and posters we realised the missing slant of the letter 'A' was only necessary for the first two appearances of the letter.

Icons have been repositioned around the entire advertisement, in order to create space for the text in the bottom left hand corner, which is conventional for a Jack Garratt poster.