Working on the Digipak

Here I have added a glow to the writing. The way that I did this was duplicating the layer, I then blurred and smudged the added layer to create a glowing affect but also a shadowing affect. My group and I had discussed this idea and we all liked it. I think that it makes the name stand out a bit more which is what we wanted - we wanted there to be more colour. It is quite a subtle change but we all think that it works for our product.

Also thinking about one of the panels which has the CD on we thought that this image would be underneath a CD which is black with Lola Mae's logo on it. This is quite simple but we think it will look more affective than having a picture of her printed onto the CD. It's more sophisticated and again goes with our main idea of it being 'about the quality of the music' instead of just the artists beauty. This image is very glamourous and pretty which goes with our star image. This is a more posed photograph compared to the album cover - and compared to the other photo in the Digipak which will be her in a recording studio.

Here is what the Digipak looks like so far. I have made the black CD opacity low so that you are able to see the image underneath - and to see if it works. I think it does as the images are totally different but still have the same 'vibe' to them, and show the same sort of artist - sophisticated, cool and modern. We all think that the black and white works as it makes all of the images link - by adding a colourful photo it might not go with the theme of the whole Digipak. However I am going to experiment after the photoshoot in the recording studio to see if a bit of colour adds or takes away from the whole product.

Editing

During the past two lessons my group and I have been working together to edit our music video. This is because we all want an input into this product and we wanted to make sure that we all had the same idea for what we want the music video to finally end up like. After the feedback we got from the focus group we had a chat about the narrative and we decided that we should start our edit again. This will enable us to make sure that the narrative is clear and that the main singer is clearly the only singer (which is something the focus group picked up on). We made 'bins' of all of the different shots that we wanted to use and labelled them 'lip sync blue', 'underwater dance (2 girls)', 'close ups of Georgie' etc.. This made the editing process a lot more managable as we were able to look through all of the footage and decide which shots work and which don't (because we had quite a lot). This way of editing was very confusing and hard for us because we wanted it to be quite continous - the only way we could achieve this was by going to a lip-sync inbetween shots of the dance because otherwise we would have jumpcut shots which we didn't want. This made most of the video be lipsync which is definitely not what we wanted as the dance bits were the best part of the video and really wanted to draw them out and use lots of them because of how beautiful they look. However we realised that it should be more abstract than that and it didn't have to be a continous video. We cut some of the video - using blue lip syncs as we decided to not use the orange ones as they aren't very elegant even if the colours were changed. Here is picture showing how the timeline of this version of our video.

After doing this for a day we came up with the idea of getting shots of the underwater dance and dissolving them one after another. This would create a base to which we would add the pond shots and the lip-syncs onto. To do this we first organised on the timeline all of the shots we wanted to use. We split them into seperate catergories e.g Sasha alone dancing, close-up shots of Georgie, the girl dancers together, material shots etc.. This way we got rid of some of the shots that were really similar to eachother and kept the shots that were more affective. This narrowed it down which we needed as we had so much footage. Having looked and sorted out the shots we have seen how a lot of the underwater shots are really elegant - this is something we aimed to capture and by us having so many we wanted to devise a way that would show more of these instead of more of lip-sync shots of Georgie as this isn't very interesting to watch over and over again. Here is an image showing the way that we organised the shots. We have moved them to the right hand side of the timeline so that we can drag them to the part of the song. The reason we have done it this way is because we don't repeat any shots and also so we can compare each similar shot to eachother quickly.

During editing we can see how this has already created a visually beautiful video and we are able to see which particular dance shots match which parts of the music. This is a less confusing way of working because before we were worried about jump-cutting but this abstract way of creating our video allows us to place shots which are different next to eachother and it still looks affective. It also makes it more about the shots instead of the narrative which also draws you to the song as we have edited them in a way that they fit with the music. By fading the shots in and out it creates a magical effect which really goes with the music and the shots. We haven't finished this edit yet as we haven't put the lip syncs up, but we are all working on it so that we all get an input and so that the final product is something we are all happy with!

After the feedback..

After the feedback session we decided to change the template of our website as we decided that this one was a bit more interesting as a homepage as it had more information about the artist on it. We changed the picture from the picture which was considered classical to one which is a bit more modern - also she doesn't look sad in it which is something we wanted to make sure wasn't an element of the photo. Although black and white is the main theme, the colour light blue as the title works as it adds a bit of colour - along with the pictures which also create a more exciting look to the homepage. We will have the track from soundcloud playing as it will be her 'newest track'. Some of the photos will be more personal whereas others will be studio shots.

One idea I have had for a photo shoot is to take Georgie to the recording studio at school and make it look like this is where she recorded her album (the track). I feel that if we got a good one this could be one of the two images in the Digipak and also can feature on her website as many artists have these kinds of photos. Here are two pictures showing two female artists from different genres both in recording studios - the reason I have shown both is because I aim to get photos similar to both - one where she is posing, one where she is actually singing. I will make the singing one look realistic by getting her to actually sing.

For the Digipak I have edited the writing to make it blue like the website. I spoke to the other girls in my group and we decided that the writing would be blue for the artists name and track list. Here is what it now looks like:

Feedback

Here is a video showing a focus group that are students studying media giving us feedback on our rough cuts. We have edited it so that there are only clips showing their feedback and making it a bit more affective as a video.



Some of the feedback we got about the rough cut.

• Unsure whether it was a band of three girls or one girl.

This taught us that the shots that we used need to be shown in such a way that makes it clear that the underwater girls are just for in the video and that the main girl is the singer. We should use less close ups of the girls underwater as this makes the audience able to see them in detail - therefore they recognise them as different girls - whereas they should only really be focusing on the artist. This makes the editing process a key to the affectiveness of our video. It should be clear that the song is just one singer and the other girls aren't part of her act. This is definitely a point that we have taken on board and are going to adjust our editing accordingly as it is so important that it is clear who our artist is.

• The narrative was a bit confusing as some of the underwater shots of the singer were at the beginning before she went in.

This is important because we want people to want to watch the video again. Sometimes when the narrative picks up questions for the audience it makes people watch it more than once - one example of this is one of Two Door Cinema Clubs music videos 'I Can Talk' and fans liked the confusion of this video - however ours is different as we want our audience to focus on the beauty of the video and the song. (Our artist is a completely different genre to Two Door Cinema Club which is a quirky boy band). If our narrative is confusing and doesn't make sense at all then this won't attract people to watch it as they will think that the editing was done in a bad way - instead of it supposed to be looking confusing and a bit odd (like 'I Can Talk'). We do want there to be a dreamlike affect to the video but also for the audience to understand that it is underwater and that the singer is getting beckoned in by the other girls.

• The shots in slow motion of the dancers looked really amazing.

This is important feedback because it shows us that something is really working in the music video. Also it's good that it is appealing to females of the age of 17-18 which were the ages and gender of our focus group. We were glad that the slow motion was picked out on and this is something we want our video to mostly consist of because a whole song of lipsync will not create an interesting video. We want there to be a 'wow' factor to the slow motion shots as they are stunning and an element of questioning - 'how did they do that?'

• Some shots were too long.

This again is something we need to look at when editing. Because we do have some stunning shots we want to drag some of them out but others - such as the beginning when she walks - shouldn't be slow motion as there needs to be a differentiation between some of the speeds of the shoots. We knew when looking at the beginning that it was more affective at normal speed.

• The shot over the shoulder in the middle of the song stood out and didn't work because of the difference in lighting and the colour (being really white).

We are going to get rid of this shot as it clearly doesn't work. Not all of our group had as much input into the roughcut because of the fact that we all were working on different products. This made us have a product we weren't all 100% happy with. After seeing it and talking about it together we have decided to all really work as a team to create a product we are all happy with!

• Bit too many lip syncs.

After watching it with the focus group we agreed with this point made. Although it should be focused on the singer, we can do it in other ways than making the video mostly lip sync - for example making her enter the water a bit earlier so we can use more of her beautiful underwater shots - or even just less close ups of the other girls faces so that we don't need to use as much lipsyncs to make sure that the audience understand who the artist is.

• Sometimes the lip syncs and shots jump cutted.

One thing we took away from this feedback was that it shouldn't be a continous video - it should be a bit more abstract. The shots do need to link and be smooth but they don't need to make perfect sense next to eachother. One way that we could get over this is by editing it less like a film and possibly using fade in and outs to make it more of an artistic video.

• The make-up (glittery lips) and costumes looked really good.

It was good that they commented on the costumes as it was something we took a lot of time perfecting. The make-up also added a girly element to the video as when the girls were dancing or the singer singing you could see their lips glistening which again added a bit more of a magical effect. Also this is something that will appeal to the artists female audience as they might want to follow this trend as a lot of girls want to be like female artists.

• However because the make-up and costume were so similar with all of the girls it needs to be clearer as to who the singer is.

We did want the girls to look similar so that they all looked good together and that tehre was no clashes with the singer and other girls - as this goes with the narration as we didn't want her to be seen as being left out. Obviously thinking about this point it might have been a little clearer if there was something different to the girls - however the white coloured material worked well on both, the hair really added some depth to the shots - so by getting rid of an element which was so important in our video it might have made it less affective visually but more clear with the narrative. So this is definitely something we have been thinking about as there are positives and negatives with the feedback that we got. Also this is not something we can change - whereas the editing can be adjusted.

Website feedback.

• Linked very well to other products.

This is really important because if the products didn't go together then it might not be clear who our artist is. Also it is good for us because it shows that we each know who our artist is - what sort of music they sell, what their stage image is and who their audience are. Its imporant that each of the products go well together and don't clash because its easier for their audience to recognise who they are - also it makes them more memorable.

• The picture used as the homepage made the artist look like a classical singer.
• Looks like an artists website who is similar to Adele (sad songs), which doesn't go with the Numb track.

The first comment was from one of the girls in the focus group which was something we had never thought of - it is quite a classical picture which doesn't go with our artist. This is something we have thought about and we are going to change the homepage image to make sure that it fits with what sort of music our artist produces. The second comment is similar to the other one but it is more about the link with the song that we have used. Its important that each product looks like from the same genre so that the artist is understood by their fans but also by people who have never heard of them so that they get an understanding of whether they will appeal to them. Our song that we used for our music video is a 'remix' on the album but you can still hear in her voice in it - she is less depressing than Adele and bit more modern like Ellie Goulding. This should come across in the artwork, website and all of the products.

• Black and white theme is nice as its sophisticated but the light blue really works as it brings out a bit of colour.

Black and white is quite Adele - which is more classical music than what our artist produces. We do like the black and white but by adding some colour shows that she has an edge to her. We had already thought about this and by everyone saying this as feedback we have realised that it is definitely something we should keep.

Digipak feedback.

• Black and white looks good but make writing light blue like the website.

This would really work as it would link the website with the album cover which would really make all of the products work together which is something an artist needs. By adding a bit of colour (like the website) it shows that she is less classical, and is a bit more 'cooler'. We want to steer away from the 'Adele' impression that a few of the focus group got from initially looking at the Digipak and website. One of my group members and I had already spoken about the idea of adding the light blue writing but decided to show the black and white to see if any of the focus group picked up on it - by them picking up on this point it definitely showed us that we should change it to the light blue as it would make all of our products go well together.

• Looks quite depressing music (like Adele).

Again by adding the light blue writing it will modernise it and get rid of the 'depressing song' impression. Which is what the focus group also said after speaking about the writing colour. The picture looks good as it shows she looks like a singer/songwriter. However the whole black and white feel makes it very much look like an artist similar to 'Adele' whereas ours has an edge - and colour will bring that out.  

• Looks like a singer/song writer

This is something we wanted our artist to look like - so by having the focus group picking up on that it shows that we have created the impression of the artist that we wanted. They said this was shown through the photograph of her looking down as it shows its not all about the look of the artist but actually also the quality of the music - it also gives a 'home' feel which shows that she writes her own songs. Also by her being a singer/songwriter it shows that she isn't just a pretty face but is actually a talented musician - and this again is something the image gives.

• Looks like an organic artist - not manufactured.

This feedback also draws upon the kind of artist we wanted to create. We wanted the artist to be a singer/songwriter who is modern and cool. By them saying that she looks like a organic artist goes with the idea of her being a singer/songwriter as she makes her own material - she isn't given all of the songs. This creates a more thoughtful artist which is something that we wanted.

'The Making Of Our Video'

Here is a video that we have edited together of clips taken throughout the day showing the making of our video. We all had the camera we created this on at certain points in the day so that we all got to be shown in the video and had a chance to document the shoot day. This will be able to be used on the website to show the artists 'Making of Numb'. Because this is behind the scenes footage fans will be interested to see shots of the artist when she is getting shot - but with the cameras that we were shooting on being visible. This makes the audience feel like they are there with her therefore they feel that they know the artist just that little bit better. This gives them also a bit more knowledge as to how this visually beautiful video was created.

Some shots show the actors being themselves and having a laugh showing that they are having fun with it and enjoying making this video - showing the artist to be a normal down to earth girl who doesn't take herself too seriously (same with the other girls too). This makes the people watching more able to identify with the girls as they are shown to have personalities. It also shows at the end of the 'making of video' that some of it was shot in a pool - this shows how much time and effort went into it but also how if some of the artists fans were intrigued or wanted to do something similar themselves (to copy the artist) they would be able to.

If I could make this video again I would have photographed Georgie getting ready and have clips of her sitting on the side waiting or her actually shooting something. We didn't spend much time making this whereas if we had thought about how great this would have been then we could have shot something really great. We could have commentated on it which would have made it more affective as it would be a real diary account of the day and how it was progressing. Fans would love to watch this as they see the artist being herself and get a glimpse into her life- which they may aspire to be like her. I looked on YouTube to find some and a lot of the big artists have them - Beyonce, Katy Perry etc.. I have embedded Katy Perrys one for 'The One That Got Away' because I feel that this one is good - it has a lot of clips of Katy Perry but also took us through the days events and we get to see a lot of how it was created - which is something we don't get from the music video itself.




As you can see this video has had 2,420,667 views which shows that it is something that fans of Katy Perrys want to see. Although this is a lot of views - her actual music video got a staggering 147,634,121 views. This shows how the 'making of' isn't as important as the official video. But it definitely does add something -and fans love to see it.

Editing photos for our products

At home I decided to edit the photo that we have on the album cover at the moment. Although we aren't sure whether we will use this picture or not I feel that it was worth editing as it would probably be shown on the website in the gallery of pictures. I don't have Photoshop at home, but I do have Picasa which is another photo editing programme. I used this to edit her skin as I find it easy to do. The way you do this was by getting the original image into Picasa. (print screen below)

 

I then changed this to black and white, and edited the shadows and brightness. This made sure that the shadow on her face was still visible and also that each ripple in the hair could be seen. And I then retouchesd the skin to make her skin look perfect - without any spots or skin that wasn't smooth. This is what the image ended up looking like which I am happy with as it still has shadows, the hair is floaty, and the whole image looks soft. However it might be a bit too similar to an artist like Adele which is the not what our artist is about - it might be a bit too depressing looking which is not something that we want. We want it to be thoughtful but also quite 'cool'. Here is the image that I edited.

 

 

Another image that I have been editing is one that might be used as our homepage on our artists website. I did the same as the image before - changing it to black and white, shadows and contrasts and then editing out the imperfections. Here is a print screen of doing the retouching to get rid of the crinkles on her forehead, and the spots around her face.

 

 

Here is the image that I ended up with after the editing process. This is a lot better because of the smooth skin and our artist would be happy with this being shown whereas the one before with the creases on her forehead and spots she would have been less confident as having that one uploaded to the website.

 

 

Another photo that Evie decided to put as the homepage on the website was this photo which I decided to edit to get the skin flawless, get rid of the hair on the sides of her face and just to make the image a bit more imroved. This is something all artists similar to ours have done - eg. Ellie Gouldings images always make her skin look perfect!

 

 

Digipak

Here I have put the two images onto a Digipak template that I got off of the internet. This was to get a rough idea of what it would look like as an album. I did this in Photoshop because I find Photoshop easy to add text onto images - its easy to change fonts - add lots of layers which this did involve. Its also where I edited the image as it isn't just a one click black and white tool that I used as this creates a dull image which has no depth, but I adjusted the tones and colours to make it impressionistic and added shadows and brightness to accentuate her check bones.

One of the most unique and beautiful aspects about both of these covers is the hair, its subtle but I wanted to make sure that it was visible - which was something I had to make sure I didn't overdo (e.g the shadows weren't too dark). The hair on the back of the album cover is subtle but definitely adds something. Also the sparkles on her lips was something I wanted to make sure was something we could see as it added that touch of her being girly. I have decided that our Digipak will have 4 sides - front cover, back cover and two inside. This is something I have to think about photography wise. We do have some images from the photoshoot that I could use but I am also going to make sure that I take others- so I will scheduele a photoshoot with Georgie sometime and have a think about how I want to photograph her.