Evaluation Question 1

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

Digital Storyboard

Digital Storyboard

I have created a digital storyboard for my final music video. 

1)

The establishing shot features a wall with street art. The word 'Star' written across the brick is made to look like foil balloons, while a crowd of silhouttes sit behind. The floor is covered with leaves, rubbish and discarded canisters. 

 2)

To the beat of the music, the words 'Esthxr We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off Whipped Cream Remix' fades in. The typography is the same as seen on the digipak, and the same blue has been used throughout my products. The typography then fades out on another beat.

3)

Esther then walks into the centre of the long shot, from the right hand side. She then turns to face the camera and begins to perform. 

4)

While Esther sings, the background changes 3 times behind her. These backgrounds include red telephone boxes, a historical building and a modern architecture. 

5)

As the beat gets louder and faster, Esther begins to dance.  With every dance move the background changes behind her, while Esther remains in the same place on screen.

6)

Esther continues to dance until 1:04. The background changes many times behind her, and  a wide range of mine-en-scene is displayed.

 7)

As the beat slows down, and the lyrics say 'Just Slow Down' I cut to a close up shot of Esther performance. The first shot features a green graffiti background.

8)

On the beat, the background changes as Esther performs to the camera. Behind Esther on the first change is an iconic London underground poster, and the second is a graffiti wall again.

9)

Then as the beat gets faster and louder again, I cut back to a long shot. The pace of my editing and change in location increases dramatically.

10)

Esther dances and sings through out the music video.

11)

The beat changes again at 1:53, and Esther begins to dance in a circle. (Long shots are used throughout)

14)

Esther continues to dance in circle, as the beat of the music slows down. 

 15)

Then Esther stops dancing and begins to sing towards the camera.

16)

Once Esther finishes performing, she walks out of shot to the right hand side (the side she entered on).

The camera is static throughout to make the changes in locations as smooth as possible, and only long and close up shots have been used.

Poster

Creating Poster

In order to promote my star 'Esthxr' I created a poster. 

 I had originally planned to have a long shot of Esther on the poster, therefore I started by removing the background. However, the more I edited the more I didn't like the idea. It soon became apparent that there wouldn't be any shadows where Esther was leaning against the wall. This looked false and wrong. 
At the point, I did consider creating shadows in photoshop but I eventually decided against this.

I then copied in the same font I used on the CD cover, on to my poster. I removed the white areas, and replaced the black areas with the same graffitti background as on the CD cover. However, the writing was hard to read and was too busy. Therefore I changed the black area to white, which was much more aesthetically pleasing and suitable. 

I then copied in a twitter, Facebook and Instagram logo. I re-sized them so they were all the same size. I then removed the backgrounds in the images, and removed all colour to make the symbols white.
I think the simplicity works really well, and looks quite professional. 

I then copied in the front cover, and rearranged the typography. As you can see, I removed 'Esthxr' and put 'Feline' and 'Out now' on a slant. The wonky writing is fun, and is consistent with the rough and messy style of products I have produced so far. 

Final Poster

Before editing, I adjusted the canvas size to 42cm by 29.7cm, which is the dimensions of an A3 piece of paper. I think A3 posters are more eye-catching, and can be scaled down to A4 if needed.

I like how the the style of font is consistent throughout my products. I also the white font against the blue background. 

Final Music Video

Final Cut

Using feedback from other students in my class and my target audience, I have made alterations to my initial edit. I think these changes have improved the overall quality of my music video and therefore I am happier with the final product.

If you were to compare my initial edit to my final cut, It would be clear which shots have been added, however I think I was able to incorporate recently filmed footage without the viewer being able to notice. 

Green Screen Typography

Green Screen Typography

Now that I was happy with my final edit, I experimented with various different fonts available on Final Cut Pro. However, I didn't think any font available would be suitable for my music video. Therefore I decided to make an image which had a green screen background with the typography I used on the digipak, in Photoshop. 

I firstly copied in a green screen background so I could get the right green. I then made the canvas bigger to minimize the chances of needing to stretch the size of the image - which will cause it to pixelate. 

I then used the typography from the front cover, and a 'Berlin Sans FB Demi' for the name of the song. I adjusted the size, to make the Esther's name bigger than song name, as I thought this composition looked professional. 

I then imported this image into final cut, and replaced the titling with the image. I listened to the beat of the music, and put a fade in and fade out where I thought was most appropriate. I then removed the green background by selecting 'Video Effects' then 'Keyer'. I then adjusted the automatic settings, as seen in the screen shot to the left, so the writing was more visible and readable. 

Improving and Replacing Shots

Editing

Today I have downloaded the footage Esther and I filmed on Sunday. I then started to edit my music video again by replacing the shots which could be improved. 

I started by editing the close up shots, as this was one of the main reasons I filmed again. I found it difficult to choose shots were Esther's performance was consistent, while considering the colours visible in the background. 

I then started playing with replacing various clips which could be improved. I mainly replaced the shots from 1:47-1:51, so Esther's dancing would look consistent. I also placed another shot within this time range to decrease the duration of each shot.