Blog Reflection - Week 15

Now that the ancillary products are all complete, all three stages of production are now over! This week was spent well and as there was a tight deadline on the 19th, I definitely had to keep on working hard. I came in at lunch times and after school, as well as the allocated four lessons this week, to complete the work that I had to complete. My partner and I used Adobe Fireworks CS5 and Adobe Photoshop CS5 to edit either product as we were both better using the different application (I used Photoshop more). This range of application use enabled us to make us of what both products had to offer. Sometimes Fireworks had better tools to get rid of the background, whilst Photoshop had better tools that allowed us to give a more professional look to our artist.

We included many aspects of the product so that we could show an understanding of the task. We included synergy through promoting iTunes and record labels as well as showcasing different representations and themes via her various poses that connote something different each time. Both products have taught us how many details these companies must go through in order to create their items in the correct manner. This includes incorporating the correct information as well as showcasing the right image so that the perfect promotion is formed.

Final Products

So that was that with our products. We finally completed all three products as of today! Below you can see the low quality version of our music video, but in order for better viewing pleasure, please check out the high quality version on the disk that has been sent to you.

Additionally to the music video, we also created two ancillary products. The magazine advert is to be used in magazines so that we can attract our target audience into buying the album. We decided to make her sexualised so that her main image of classy but sexy can be connoted. This can be seen below:

And then we have our final ancillary product, the digipak. This is a special edition CD case that our audience can buy. As this is her debut album we decided to get her name out by having the title of the album the same name as our artist. Here we have a section for two CD's where the background of the CD placement is the same as the actual CD itself, except it does not have the text on it. Also, a photo of the artist (top right) to symbolise that she is a 'natural' and 'kind' person is apparent on the digipak. Another section is the 'thank you' one (bottom left) - this helps our artist to be seen as genuine and, if you read what it says, she is definitely a grateful and religious person. The back cover (bottom middle) shows a more sexualised side of our artist as well as has the title tracks and some company information. The front cover is a close up so that she can again be sexualised, as it is her main aspect, and so she can attract attention. This can be seen below:

Photoshoot for Ancillary Products

abirmedia13's photostream on Flickr.

I have uploaded all of the potential selections from the 321 photographs taken on the photoshoot. Only a few of these will be used for the final product and this will then all be edited on Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Fireworks CS5 to create both products to go alongside the music video for promotional methods.

Blog Reflection - Week 14

This week we completed our music video. As our actor could not make it to any other date and he was the only person that we knew that was willing to do it, we had to make do with what we had, especially with the deadline kept in mind. As this was the case, the plans to go to a bridge in a park and a cinema were changed to just scenes in a park and in a school corridoor as this was in reach of us on the minimal time that we had left. Nonetheless, these scenes of the boyfriend looking upset and the flashbacks of the two of them hanging out worked very well and added an impact to the narrative that we were missing. Now the story of the two ex lovers has been told with more ease as both the lyrics and the visuals portray that to an even brighter light.

We also ended up filming some scenes of the female artist on her own as she reflects on the good times that she once had with her ex lover. This was not in the original script but it was added as it added a level of emotion that was not there initially. This helps to deliver the theme of a breakup as it is something that those that have just come out of a breakup do, reflect on their time together. Also, this helps the audience members that are fond of our artist for her issues on relationships as this highlights one of those issues.

Overall, I am very proud of the music video. It is at a level that I was hoping it would be on when planning it. Although it is not fully green screen like I had hoped, it is in fact more emotional and actually artistically better than I had initially planned as so much more emotion and readability is within it (as there are so many layers).

Next week my partner and I will be focusing on the ancillary products that will go side by side with the music video.

Call Sheet 8

Date and time: 

- 04/12/13 at 15:20

Location:

- Christie Gardens Park

Script scene no.s:

- 3, 4, 11 - 13, 22 - 24, 32 - 34, 45 - 47

Contributors:

- Jalbby Johnson and Jared Sinclair

Crew:

- Rianne Selina & Abir Mohammad 

Equipment:

- Camera, SD card and tripod.

Costume:

- Hair down, black cardigan with white design, black jeans and black top (girl) + black jacket and black trousers (boy).

Travel Arrangements: 

- Get Jared to come to school at 15:20 from Southend.

Call Sheet 7

Date and time: 

- 03/12/13 at 15:20

Location:

- Christie Gardens Park

Script scene no.s:

- n/a

Contributors:

- Jalbby Johnson  

Crew:

- Rianne Selina & Abir Mohammad 

Equipment:

- Camera, SD card and tripod.

Costume:

- White jacket, pink scarf, blue jeans and hair tied up.

Travel Arrangements: 

- None

Call Sheet 6

Date and time: 

- 02/12/13 at 13:00

Location:

- School Playground (lower school)

Script scene no.s:

- n/a

Contributors:

- Jalbby Johnson  

Crew:

- Rianne Selina & Abir Mohammad 

Equipment:

- Camera, SD card and tripod.

Costume:

- White jacket, pink scarf, blue jeans and hair tied up.

Travel Arrangements: 

- None

Blog Reflection - Week 13

After discussing with my partner about how to work with the inspiration we got from both Stuart Hall and Beyoncé, we decided on what it is that we were going to film exactly. During the week we came up with the idea to film the guy standing in front of a light coloured wall whilst dressed in dark colours. This use of mise-en-scene can allow the different readings to take place. The fact that he is dressed in black can connote that he is the one that is in the wrong as the dark colour symbolises that he has done something bad, due to it not being the most bright of colours. Also, the fact that the background is much lighter than his clothing can suggest the contrast between him and the girl that he has left behind when cheating. The girl, the artist, is the wall, and this can allow the consumers to understand that she is innocent, as white conveys innocence. Contradicting this view, an oppositional understanding may say that as the girl, the white wall, is much taller than the guy, she is the one that has placed this dark image, his clothing, on him. So summatively, she is the one that placed the blame and guilt on him, and she is not innocent but uses an image to make herself look as if she is. Also, this idea of incorporating him thinking about the past can show that he is upset.

Other than this my partner and I were given the chance to gain feedback on our draft. At this point there was no narrative as we had not filmed any so we completed the video with purely performance scenes on the stage, green screen and in the music studio. Many of our respondents stated that they were fond of the video and did give us some critical feedback. We have understood that more narrative is necessary and the lip syncing was not entirely perfect. However, people did comment on how our cutting to the beat was on point.

We have been planning on making more progress on the narrative scenes but unfortunately this week we have not been able to record with our artist or her on screen ex boyfriend as they have both been too busy with other commitments. We will try to record something before the end of next week so that our production is not held back. However, this week did not go to waste as a lot of planning went on and my partner and I manipulated some shots where the artist was not singing and placed them in the video, making it look like a deliberate pose so that the glamorous outlook can be visible.