Digipak Images

Digipak Ideas

While in Shoreditch I took several photos of Esther on Location and various other street art work, which I felt would look good on the digipak. I aimed for locations which have bright colours or feature stereotypical British elements such as architecture.  

I have narrowed down all the images taken (as in the screen shot to the left), to the best few. However, I am struggling to choose the images to use for the front cover. Therefore, I asked my friends and teachers which images is their favorite. 

The results were fairly consistent, 9 people voted for option one, 1 person voted for option 2, and 3 people voted for option 3. I was actually surprised that option 2 received so few votes, as I thought it prove most popular. However, now I know that option 1 is the most popular I will use this image in my front cover. 

The following images are the pictures I might use within my digipak:

Planning for Re-filming

Planning for Re-filming

Esther and I have agreed to go back to London on Sunday 29th November. We will travel from Epping train station like last time, and then head to our desired destination. 

To ensure that I film content that will improve the quality of my video, I have decided to analyse the weakest shots and what I can do to improve them. 

1) 0:31-0:34 Lip Sync

• Clearer and more exaggerated lip sync
• Rough area (Ideally)
• Start with hands on chest
• Finish both hands down, feet facing forward

2) 1:03-1:11 Lip Sync

• Clarify Lyrics between 1:06-1:08
• (Good and believable performance, just slight mistake in the middle)
• Graphitti Location

3) 1:11-1:118 Lip Sync

• Needs to be in Focus
• Same performance style as previous Lip Sync
• Red Telephone Box

4) 1:18-1:24 Lip Sync

• Needs to be in Focus
• Same performance style as other Lip Sync
• Autumnal Background 
• More Consistent Framing throughout Close up Lip Syncs

5) 1:29-1:29 Dance Drop

• Needs to be in Focus
• Better framing
• Starts standing facing forward, and turns to her right, finger tips graze the floor
• On the train

6) 1:34-1:35

• Flow better from previous to next shot by starting with straight arms, and finish in the correct position
• Ensure Esther is singing and does the dance move with arms at the same speed, and same positions

7) 1:48-1:50 Hand on Hips Consistent Beats

• Ensure that Esther is bending her legs in the same way every time
• Better framing
• Good to have interaction behind

8) 2:14-2:21 Lip Sync

• Need a different and new location
• Ensure new location is aesthetically pleasing
• Ensure Esther's performance is consistent with the other performance shots

9) I also intend of filming the dance routine at every given opportunity/location which I think would suit my music video. This way I will be able to reduce the amount of repeated shots

Exposure Correction

Exposure Adjustments

All the shots were filmed in various times of days, locations, weathers, etc meaning the brightness was different in each. In todays lesson I have started to adjust the exposures on the shots to make them match the shot before more accurately. I have been aiming to make Esther's dress, skin and hair the same colour in each shot.

In the example above I have adjusted the Midtones in the exposure, to make the shot just subtly darker. As you can see the difference from the original (the top screenshot), and the edited frame (the bottom screenshot), this had made the blues in the denim dress and the red of telephone boxes a more vibrant colour, as the colours were initially being washed out by the brightness in the video. Esther's face is also more visible and easier to see. 

I will continue to do this throughout my music video. I hope this will make the change in location more seamless, and comfortable on the target audience's eyes. 

Peer Feedback

Tuesday 17th November

Today my class watched my first draft of my music video, and feedback their thoughts and constructive criticism. Before showing the video, I told them that Esther and I are planning on filming in London at some point in the future, where I plan to reshoot the out of focus shots (E.g. Close Up Shots Singing, and train shots). 

The following are improvements suggested by my class mates:

• Brightness in changes
• Lip Sync
• More Spinning
• Out of Focus Shot/Lower Quality Shots
• Some changes were too fast
• Change Font

One student explained how the change in brightness from location to location, was displeasing to watch. Therefore I plan on adjusting the exposure in Final Cut Pro, within the next few lessons. Another student also pointed out that the light fades subtly in the second from last shot, which made the viewer believe the last shot would end in the dark. To fix this, I will either change the second to last shot to a day light shot or re-film the last shot in the dark. 

Many students pointed out that the lip sync could be improved, therefore I will make a point of working on the lip sync when we next film. There were few occasions where the time is out due to my editing, but there are occasions where the performance could be more consistent. I hope to find locations as aesthetically pleasing and suitable for the close up shots again.

Another student commented on the dance move where Esther spun around in a circle. He said that this section was the most interesting as the star faces the camera for the rest of the video, and suggested to add more of this. However, after much consideration this would require a large section of the dance routine to be re-choregraphed. This will set production back by at least 2-3 weeks, meaning I am very unlikely to finish finish editing and evaluate my project by the deadline. 

Before showing my video I told everyone that some of the shots were out of focus, but it become even more noticeable when the video was projected onto a large screen. The lower quality of the shot filmed in the Photography studio at 1:47, was very noticeable. The quality of the shot was compromised as it was filmed in a dark studio, with flashing lights, on auto. To overcome this issue, I will either re-film the shot with better lighting, or cut the shot from the video which would be a shame. 

Someone else said they felt that some of the changes in locations happened to quickly, on beats which are insignificant. This could be improved my slowing down the changes. As much as I agree some of the changes are very quick, I am struggling to define a significant beat during the faster pace areas of the song. I plan to continue to edit in the way I have so far, but if I come across a way of cutting the shots in a better way, I will make changes accordingly. 

I had planned to create a different font in photoshop and use a green screen later on in production, however I decided to use a font in Final Cut Pro for my first edit. I plan to experiment with various different options of fonts within the next couple of lessons.

Overall I have found the suggestions and constructive criticism really helpful, I now plan to use these points and my own to improve the quality of my music video and make a plan for filming.

Initial Edit

Initial Music Video Edit

Today I completed my first edit. 

In order to fill time I had to repeat several locations. I had initially hoped that I wouldn't have to do this, but it soon became apparent that I didn't have enough locations to fill the whole time. Therefore Esther and I have agreed that we will film in London in one of the upcoming weekends. 
I have used some shots which are out of focus, such as 2/3 of the close up lip sync shots and the train shots, but I decided to put them in my initial edit reguard-less as I think it enabled me to picture what my final music video might be like.

Filming Overview - Day 3

Saffron Walden - Tuesday 10th November

Filming today did not go as well as I'd hoped. 

I began preparing for filming by driving Esther to her house, so she could change into the right clothes (the denim pinafore dress, striped jumper, and trainers), however on the journey my car broke down. 

This meant I had to wait by car for around 3 hours in total before I was able to return to school. Despite being back in time to film, I had to organise my transportation home, and work that I had missed in the hours I was away from school. As a result, we started filming later than I had orginally planned, which meant it was starting to get dark outside. We rushed to film some of the outside locations I identified in my previous post in school, but It was too dark. Therefore we moved inside to film in the school facilities. However, I hadn't taken the building work at school into consideration. This meant I was unable to film in a library or Saffron Hall. Furthermore, we were unable to film any locations outside of school as we had no way of transporting all the equipment in time to the various locations without my car.

We successfully filmed around another 6 locations, but I was hoping for much more. We have spoken about potentially filming after school some day next week if I have my car back by then. 

Issues With Existing Shots

Out Of Focus Shots

A few shots I filmed in London and Cambridge are out of focus. This is really annoying, as the overall quality of my music video is compromised. Therefore, I am unlikely to use these in my final cut. This is a shame, as some of the locations are really unique and striking, which would make my video rememberable and attractive to my target audience.

However now I know I should take extra care when focusing my shots, by ensuring that it Esther's face in focus, not the background. From acknowledging this now, I will be able to apply extra time and care when setting up in each location when I film this week. I intend to watch each clip back after filming, so then I can re-film is needed.