Production Diary - Week 15

We have mainly been focusing on starting the production of our digipak and advert this week and have created multiple first drafts for our advert and an intial draft for our digipak. These will still need redrafting before being a finished product but I think that as a start they work quite well. Before actually editing these together we had to think of song names, album names and create logos to use which were appropriate for our artist. I originally wanted to name the album 'Pillow Talk' however I think that the title 'Beyond Colour' is much more effective in presenting our genre and relates directly to our music video and our artist so I am happy with the name that we chose. Despite our main focus being on these two products we have not neglected our music video and have been improving it by adding the shots of the pillow fights and playing around with different transitions and colour effects to see which ones are most effective. It is close to christmas and so we will continue to edit these products when we get back in January as we do not have the facilities to do so at home.

Advert 1st Drafts

We have created 4 different drafts to begin the production of our advert. 

 

Above is a very simple draft that we created. We chose to use the photo that we had edited using PicsArt with the filter Holga 1 because it shows the audience our artist having fun with her friends and has direct synergy with the digipak. We used the same fonts for 'Beyond Colour' and 'Sasha' as we had used on the digipak to also make this stand out and create synergy. We could improve this draft by adding more detail and following the conventions more closely.

Our second draft was also very simple and followed the design of the front cover of our digipak. This would be more recognisable to the audience to associate with the digipak however we do not think it represents the fun side of our artist as well. To improve this we would also need to add more detail about the album and follow conventions further.

Our next draft is much closer to looking realistic.  We added conventions such as a website, production company logo and featured tracks. We chose to use an image that is used on the digipak but added the Holga 1 filter so that although it is an image the audience will have seen and will associate with our artist and the album it will also be new to them. We used the colours white and gold for the main titles to match the colour schemes within our digipak but used Red and black for any other texts to fit with the photograph.

Our final draft we also used the Holga 1 filter on picsart however did not used the mirrored version of our photo. We placed the main text and titles in our artist's eyeline to draw more attention to it and make it stand out. We included our production logo, a website and social media account for our artist and featured tracks to make it seem more realistic. We tried to create a 3D effect on 'The Debut Album' by adding a blue/red glow however we think this looks quite tacky and unprofessional. We then used the logo as used on our digipak to create synergy for our artist and album name. This is the closest draft to our final draft however we would still like to see how the others turn out when improved.

Digipak 1st Draft

This is the first draft for out digipak that we created on fireworks, we began by finding a template on google.

We chose this photo for the inside cover because we think it shows the fun side of our artist and how close she is with her friends. I edited the photo on the app Pics Art and added the Holga 1 filter which gave the photo a 3D effect that we thought would make our audience feel as if they are getting a deeper insight into the life of our artist.

 For the left cover, again using PicsArt we added the filter PopArt Colors to the image, we thought that this is appropriate and fits with the colours used in our music video to create intertextuality between the two. We chose to use a close up of our artists legs, which we had edited to make them seem flawless. We chose this image of her jumping to show her represent her as quite free and fun.

For the back cover of our digipak, using PicsArt we added a mirror effect and the filter 'dodger'. We again photoshopped our artist to give her a flawless appearance that many people associate with beauty. We chose to include the titles of our song in gold to match the front cover of our digipak and we used the font 'Castellar' because it is a sophisticated font and is similar to the one used for our artists name on the front cover. We also chose to include our logo at the bottom and to include the first title as 'We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off' because it will have been one of the main songs to draw in the audience. For our next draft we will need to include a barcode and production company.

For the front cover we chose to incorporate our logo that we had chosen. We added an image into the record used in the logo of our artist, we then used this photo on the actual CD to create synergy and a theme throughout. We chose the colours white and gold to give the album a sense of elegance and importance.

On the left cover, so far we only have the words 'Sasha xo' here we want to create a personal message from our artist to the audience however we are unsure what we would like to write so this is something we will need to improve upon in our next draft. In our next draft we also want to make our digipak more continuous so all of the sides have a theme throughout and don't look like a mash up. We would also like to complete the message and add other small tweaks.

Logo - Front Cover

In the music industry, and the dance genre in particular, many artists use a logo or symbol for the front cover of their digipak. We would like to use this on our digipak because we think that it represents the genre as well as being symbolic of our artist. One album that uses this is Pink Floyd 'Dark Side of the Moon', this logo is used effectively and is very memorable to the audience so that it is immediately recognised which is the effect that we would hope to create.

We have designed some ideas for what we would like to use as shown in the video below.

Our first logo was very simple, an S with a crown. We chose the crown to represent our artist as important and royal as well as her girly nature. This kind of representation was used as advertisement for Beyonce's 'Mrs Carter Show' World Tour.

 We chose the colour pink because it is connoted as quite a girly colour as well as it being bright and standing out. It also a colour used frequently in our music video so would create synergy between the two products.

We incorporated the crown into our next logo idea however this time we made it gold. We chose this colour because it fits the theme of being royal and powerful as well as wealth and is also symbolic of generosity, giving and warmth. We chose this time to place the crown above the image of a vinyl to present our artist as the queen of music. We chose to import a photo onto this logo to show the audience who our artist is. We then added 'Sasha' and 'Beyond Colour' in black and gold to fit the theme and to show the name of our album.








In an attempt to improve this logo we inverted the colours into a black and blue colour and took away the photo. Although we think that this would be effective to represent the genre we do not think that it fits the image we are trying to portray for our artist so we have chosen to use the white and gold however we are considering changing the image in the centre and using it elsewhere on our digipak.

Production Company

We have decided to name our production company 'Future Productions' to show our artist as ahead of the time and setting trends through her music and also through her image. We decided upon the slogan 'Tomorrow's Music Today' to add to this and entice the audience because they think that listening to our artist will make them cool. We then had to choose a logo for our company, we wanted it to be a blue colour because it is quite cool and calming yet stands out on a page.


Our first logo shows a city in a bubble, we thought this would be appropriate because it shows that our company represents people across the whole city. We think that the bubbles add a futuristic feel to connote the name of our company.

 Our second logo is much more focused on the music side of the company with a microphone in a house. The futuristic font used adds to the future side of our company to create a balance between the two.

Our third logo is also quite focused on the music side of our company. We chose to use a red colour with this one to represent the love of music and to stand out more than the blue.

We returned to the colour blue for our final logal and incorporated the image of a globe and a USB. We think that the globe shows how the music would be global and marketed to a worldwide audience however we thought that the USB took away from the music side of our company.

We decided upon using our first design for our logo because we think that even though it isn't directly linked to music it shows the futuristic side of the video well.

Album Name

Now that we have our ideas for our digipak we need to create a title for our album. Our favourite title ideas that we narrowed our choices down to were Sasha, Pillow Talk and Beyond Colour, we think that although Sasha is quite effective we want to give our audience a deeper insight into our artist with an original title. Although we really liked the idea of Pillow Talk we found that there was an album by Man Like Me with this name and we wanted our album to appear original. This left us with the title 'Beyond Colour' which we as a group agreed on and thought it really represented our themes in our music video and the image we wanted to portray through our artist.

Song Titles

Make your own mind maps with Mindomo.

Through our research albums usually have 12 songs but is different for every album and some may have less or more. We have decided that 8 songs would be appropriate for our digipak because our artist is a 'new' artist who won't have a strong fan base so would typically have less songs on her album. Above are the titles that we are considering for our music video and the reasons in which we chose them. We want our artist to be represented as young and free which we think these all relate to, they could also all potentially be songs that the target audience could relate to so would entice them to purchase our album.

Production Diary - Week 14

This week we have completed our first draft, as a whole I am happy with the outcome although there are improvements that we have established such as making the shots quicker to add a faster pace and more fun and lively feeling. We also carried out a photoshoot for our digipak and advert, we chose the theme of a pillow fight which was really effective to portray our genre and the fun image we want to create for our artist. Within the next week we are going to edit these pictures into creating a draft for our digipak and advert and we would also like to incorporate any shots of this into our music video to create a resemblance between the different products.

Production Diary - Photoshoot

We have carried out a photoshoot of our artist having a pillow fight to use for our digipak and our advert. We also decided to film some shots to put into our music video to obtain an intertextuality between the two. It was really fun to film here and we think that these will be really effective to show the fun side of our artist. Although the feathers were effective they were very difficult to clear up and managed to stick to everything which became a problem for the clear up.

1st Draft Reflection

We are happy with how our first draft has been completed however for our next draft the main improvements that we would like to make are to add more colour, include shorter shots, add more of the video inside text and we also want to carry out some more filming of our artist lip syncing which is something that we will need to start to plan.

Roles and Responsibilities

We all wanted to ensure that we contributed to our first draft. To do this we all ensured that we inputted our ideas into the editing of the video, I came up with the idea of layering text into the video like we used for 'The Night Is Young' and 'Clothes off' and so took control of the editing of this. This effect isn't used in a wide variety of music videos however when used appropriately it can be very effective, one video that uses this is the A-level music video shown below.


 This is something we would like to add to more in our next draft. I found a tutorial, as shown below, so that I knew what to do, I will now edit this into other places throughout our video as part of my contribution to the construction of the second draft.



My group contributed into the editing by adding colour and transitions as well as changing the opacity levels to layer different shots over each other, however we found that in some parts of the editing it became more efficient for them to feedback their ideas to me and I would bring them to life through the editing because I was familiar with the software.

1st Draft

First draft - We don't have to take our clothes off from sasha bchs on Vimeo.

Production Diary - Week 13

This week we have begun to edit our music video. We are trying to follow the storyboard as close as possible as an initial draft, so far this is going really well and I am happy with how the video is coming along. We are adding extra effects occasionally but are mainly sticking to how it was originally planned. We are hoping to have our first draft completed within the next week so we can then begin to focus on the creation of our advert and digipak.

Synergy

It is important to create continuity and synergy between our products to create a recognisable image for our artist. This will ensure that the target audience can create a link between the products and associate them with each other to remember them. We will need to create synergy between our music video and ancillary products to create this desired effect.

Audience Feedback - Digipak ideas and inspiration

After obtaining feedback from a member of our target audience we have decided to base our digipak and advert around the themes of a pillow fight. We will use images of our artist with her friend who is featured in the music video and portray the fun and outgoing side of our artist.

Production Diary - Week 12

This week I have tried to focus on ideas for our digipak and advert. We each analysed at least one digipak and advert each to ensure that we were all familiar with them and knew the typical conventions. We then discussed some basic ideas which I have presented on my blog using kizoa. I am now planning to get feedback on these ideas so that we can decide which would best target our audience and we can begin to plan and construct our final digipak and advert.

Ideas and Inspiration

Digipak Ideas - Kizoa Online Movie Maker

We are planning to carry out a photoshoot in the next few weeks for our digipak and advert. We have multiple ideas of what themes we could follow for this.

Our first idea is to have our artist in a pool with the giant inflatable duck and other inflatables. The use of the duck would create synergy with our music video and shows our artist as very fun and original. We also had the idea of using a barbie doll rather than our artist, we would use a doll with brown hair that could symbolise our artist and show how people want her to be perfect but she just wants to have fun. We could add colour to this by using a bath bomb or food colouring to make the water pink which also creates synergy with our video and adds a fun and positive vibe.

Our second idea was to use powder paint to add colour and therefore relate back to the video. This would add a fun and fearless atmosphere and make our artist look daring. We thought that we could feature a large group of her friends or even the 3 from the music video in this photoshoot to show their close relationship and emphasise the message of how she needs her friends and not just boys that we tried to portray in our music video.

Thirdly, we thought that we could create a pillow fight scene. This would show our artist having fun with her friends and show the girly and fun side of our artist. An issue that could potentially arise with this is that it is only related to our video through themes and so for a debut album may not be appropriate.

Finally, we decided that we could hang colourful CDs around our artist. This would represent her love for music as well as relate to the music video through the bright colours. It would also represent the fun and positive side of our artist that we want to portray through our digipak and advert.

My group think that the pillow fight may be our best option because it is the most achievable and although may not directly relate to our music video portrays our artist in the manner in which we want her to be portrayed. We will gather audience feedback to see which idea they think would suit our artist and will decide from there.

Analysis of adverts

Katy perry advert analysis from naomi_pierce

Lana del rey advert analysis from naomi_pierce

The artists are both successful and popular in the music industry and pop culture. Some important ideas that I have found about adverts from analysing these is that eye contact can be important and that the image is likely to be the main focus rather than the album title itself. 

Analysis of Digipaks

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
I have previously analysed the advert that was created to promote this album, I think it is important to look at how they link together and compliment each other.

Front Cover 

The main focus of the front cover is on the artist's name 'Lana Del Rey' as well as an image of the artist. This is important in a digipak to show the audience who's album it is, it is also very similar to the advert that was used to promote the album. The colour scheme is mainly blue and white which provides a very calm atmosphere while also representing summer which is a common theme within the dance and pop genre. This colour scheme also contrasts the redness of her lips and hair which makes the image of her stand out more. The title of the album is quite small on the page and isn't as important as the main image or artist name however it is still important to include this on the front cover to establish what the album is.

Back Cover

The main focus of the back cover is the title of the songs that are included in the album.  They take up the most space on the cover and are written in a pale blue colour to contrast against the plain background. It is important to include the song titles on the back to give information to the audience as well as to entice the audience through pre released singles. The barcode and production company are also seen on the back, they are very small but give extra information to the audience.

Inside Cover

The inside cover shows only an image of the artist. These covers are often kept very simplistic so that the audience isn't overwhelmed. The image uses bright, summery colours which are a convention of the dance-pop genre and give the album a positive film. 

CD

The CD is very simplistic with pictures of roses around the edge on a white background. The red rose is symbolic of love and beauty but the deep colour also adds a hint of danger. The rose hasn't been featured anywhere else on the digipak which doesn't follow the typical conventions where it usually follows the main themes. 

Demi Lovato - Confident

Front Cover

The main focus of the front cover is the image of the artist. The Male Gaze Theory could be applied to this image as it is slightly provocative especially due to her costume which is revealing as she is shown in her underwear. This also shows the confident image that she wants to present as it is very courageous to show an image of her with little clothing. Her top is made of black leather and has tears in it to give her more of an edgy and strong appearance to suit the theme of 'confidence'. High key lighting is used to make the artist stand out and helps to reduce the visibility of her flaws. She has been photoshopped so that she has no flaws and appears very tanned and attracts the audience through the ideas of the male gaze theory. She is the only thing in the framing of the image and the background is a very simple white, this ensures that the main focus is on the artist which portrays her as very strong and confident to match the albums name and themes. Her make up is very defined to contour and shape her face which is very popular with young people today, we can also see that her eyebrows are very perfectly shaped which is also very fashionable and would appeal to a young audience. Her hair is slicked back which is also very fashionable, to show that she keeps up with current trends and appeals to a modern audience, this also creates a slightly wet look which makes her look very sexy and provocative. The artist and album names are written across the centre of the cover, they are written quite small so they do not take the focus off of the artist but as they are positioned in the centre still stand out. The capitalisation of the letters gives a strong and independent feel to add to the theme of confidence. The colour changes from black to white and then back to black to contrast against the background to make sure it is visible and stands out. In the top right we can see a sticker to say this is the deluxe edition, it shows two featured tracks which had previously been released and were very popular so may entice the audience. It also shows that there are bonus tracks which would make an audience member what to buy this version rather than the standard edition as they feel as though they are getting extra exclusives. The sticker also shows that it is her fifth album meaning that she would already have a large fan base and makes her seem like a success in the industry. The bottom right features a symbol for explicit content, this shows that her album is aimed at young adults and those in their late teens who would be comfortable with this.

Back Cover

The back cover includes another image of the artist in another provocative position and in the same costume to keep the same theme throughout the digipak. In this image we can see her shoes which are high heels with red bottoms, this is closely associated with Louboutins which are very expensive and show high class. The red colour also makes her seem very dangerous and represents the confident image that she wants to present. The track listing is written over the top in the same font as the album name and artist, this creates a continuity throughout the digipak and the capitalisation of the letters add to the theme of confidence. At the bottom of the cover we can see extra information such as websites, a barcode and production company which are used so the audience can find out further information. 

CD

The CD itself is very simplistic, it is black to give it an edgy and sophisticated look with the album and artist names written at the top in the same font as on the front and back cover to create synergy.  They are still written in capital letters to show this confident vibe and are in a white font which contrasts against the black background to stand out. The production company logo is also used at the bottom of the disc with extra information written around the edge of the disc.

Rihanna - Loud

The front cover of this album shows a close up image of the artist which shows her importance and adds intimacy to entice the audience. We can see that the artist has bright red hair and lipstick, this colour is associated with love as well as danger, it can be seen as a very seductive colour and so may entice the target audience through the ideas of the male gaze theory. Apart from the lipstick the rest of the artist's make up is very simplistic which brings more attention to her lips which can connote love. The artist name is included at the top of the page and the album name at the bottom. They are written in a white font which contrasts against the red and symbolises purity and innocence. They are written in rounded capital letters which make them stand out while keeping it soft and girly. The capitalisation also reflects the album title of loud because it can be seen to visually represent shouting. The inside covers show the artist lying across a bush of roses. Red roses also connote love and link with her red hair and lips. She is dressed in a white top and skirt which make her look very innocent and pure as well as quite girly which again uses the male gaze theory and the virgin/whore dichotomy to entice the audience. The CD itself also features the image of a rose however it is a paler pink, this adds a calmer feel to the album while still symbolising love and romance.

Back Cover

The back of the album has a much calmer tone to it with high key lighting and a soft filter. There is an image of the artist who looks much more vulnerable than on the front cover, this is also enhanced by the lighter shades of red that are used to take away from the dangerous image they promote. The back of the album contains a track list as well as the production company and barcode which is a convention of digipaks. The artist's eyeliner appears to be focused on the track list which makes it stand out the audience as the most important thing on the page. The image is also quite unfocused which helps to bring the audience's attention onto the track listing and extra information.

Roles and Responsibilities

When we were filming in London we tried to ensure that we all had important roles. The other members of my group are featured in some of the music video shots so I took on the role of filming as we were walking through Camden and London while they took shots such as location shots and any shots that they were not in. Along with the shots that we had originally planned in our storyboarding we filmed some spontaneous shots such as our artist feeding a squirrel in Regent's Park which we would also like to incorporate into our video. Below are some examples of the shots that I filmed myself.


We decided it would be most convenient and appropriate to take handheld footage rather than using a tripod and we thought that this would also make the audience feel as though they are out with them. This technique can be seen in Ariana Grande's music video 'One Last Time' where we feel as though we are viewing the artist through the eyes of Matt Bennett.

 

We also thought that this technique would make the audience feel as though they are looking into our artist's personal life as it feels more friendly and welcoming.

Production Diary - Week 11

This week we have completed our second day of filming. It was a very successful day of shooting, we spent the day in Camden Town and Regent's Park. We ensured that all planned shots were filmed as well as a few spontaneous including one of our artist feeding a squirrel that we encountered in the park which we would like to include because we think it is quite effective. The weather started off quite well however it did begin to rain as we moved into Regent's Park, we found ways to use this to our advantage and managed to film a shot of our artist in front of a rainbow which we would definitely like to include in our video. We are hoping to begin editing next week as well as beginning to look into adverts and digipaks and hope to have the first draft of our music video completed in the next 2 weeks.

Props and Location - London

Props and Location - Kizoa Online Movie Maker

Hair ideas - London

We have decided to follow this tutorial because it is quite simple and yet looks attractive and bold so reflects the theme of our video and the character of our artist. The tutorial is based off Ariana Grande's signature hairstyle who is in some ways a similar artist to our own so we know that it may attract our target audience and be suited to our genre.

Make Up Ideas - London

For our London shots we are planning to use this make up tutorial. It has quite a glamorous feel but does not appear too extravagant for a day out in London with friends. It also fits well with the autumn vibe that we are hoping to give off in the London shots with the berry coloured lips. This style of make up is very popular with teens today so would be appropriate for our target audience and would make our artist appear stylish and up to date with current trends.

Costume Ideas - London

London Costume by naomi-pierce featuring a tribal print cardigan

Release Form - London

As our artist, Leanne Davidson, had signed a release form before we began filming at the beach we did not to complete another for her. We did however need to obtain permission from any other actors that may be in our video for our second day of shooting so we obtained permission slips from Emily Watson, Laila Jaleel, Sam Tomlinson and I to show that we were ok with being filmed and photographed.

Risk Assessment - London

Risk Assessment - London from naomi_pierce

London

The second location that we are planning to film at is London. We are hoping to go to Camden, the Southbank, Regent's Park and a graffiti tunnel as well as filming shots of telephone boxes and shops. We think that we may have to film in this location on more than one occasion to film all of the shots we want to.

Roles and Responsibilities

While filming at the beach yesterday we had to ensure that we all had equal roles. We decided to take two cameras to ensure that we could get multiple angles of the same shots, we therefore decided that we should assign one person to each camera for the day. I was responsible for using one of the cameras to get long and wide shots of our artist and the other camera was used for close up shots, meaning that I took on 50% of the workload for filming on this day. Below is a few of the shots that I was responsible for filming.

 

I was also very involved in sourcing the props that we used and found props including the large inflatable duck. I had seen this duck used during Miley Cyrus's performance at the summertime ball and think that it worked very effectively to show the fun side of our artist.

We used tripods to film because we wanted the shots to look steady and professional and we all shared responsibility in ensuring that these and the rest of our equipment were kept safe during our time filming.

Production Diary - Week 10

We have began filming this week. We spent yesterday filming at the beach after spending the week planning what shots we needed to have done and the mise-en-scene so that we were prepared. I think that the day went really well, we got all of the shots that we wanted to as well as many extras because it will be difficult for us to go back and refilm or film new shots in the future due to the weather. I think that these shots will be very effective in our video because they are very representative of the genre and bring a positive vibe to the video. We are planning to film in London next week so we will spend the next week ensuring that everything is planned for and organised. Below is a video of us on location at Walton Pier, overall it was a very successful shoot and I look forward to future filming and post production.

Weather - beach

Despite filming in November we want to ensure that it appears as though it is summer. We have been regularly checking the weather to ensure that we can film on a sunny day. Fortunately, it is sunny today which is when we had originally planned to film. We are lucky in that the sky is clear and even though it is slightly cold and windy we will be able to get aesthetically pleasing shots which look sunny.

Props - Beach

Make Up Ideas - Beach

We want our artist to be very current and up to date with fashion trends but also to be original and make fashion statements of her own. We decided to focus the main make up inspiration on her eyes to make a really big impact. We are going to follow this tutorial to give our artist an edgy but natural look that make her eyes pop. Unlike the video, we are not going to use false eyelashes because we don't want our artist to look too fake and overdone for a day at the beach. Highlighting and Contour is very popular at the moment to define features, we will ensure that we do this. We have decided to change lipstick colours throughout the day for a variety of shots, some will be more natural nude colours where as others will be more bold to make a statement about having fun.

Costume Ideas - Beach

Beach Costume by naomi-pierce featuring a black kimono

Hair Ideas - Beach

We think that both of these hairstyles will be suitable for our video because they are quite casual and are suitable for an artist but also appear casual enough to make our shots at the beach seem realistic. They fit our genre and our artist's image as they are quite simple but trendy.

Release Form - Beach

This is the release form to obtain permission from Leanne Davidson who will be the artist featured in our video. 

Risk Assessment - Beach Location

Activity assessed Filming	Activity Location Beach (Frinton-On-Sea)	Assessment Date  1/10/15	Who’s at Risk  Group Members	Assessed By Group
HAZARD potential for harm	LIKELIHOOD /10	SEVERITY /10	OVERALL RISK likelihood x severity	CONTROL MEASURES
Drowning	4	10	40	Be cautious of sea, stay away from sea when possible.
Damaged Equipment	6	5	30	Keep equipment away from water and sea, Watch equipment at all times.
Lost/Stolen Equipment	6	5	30	Ensure someone is always with equipment, Keep check of all of the equipment taken.
Falling Over	8	4	32	Be cautious and don’t rush, share equipment load equally, watch where you’re walking, have first aid equipment to hand.
Make Up - allergies	2	6	12	Only use make up that artist has used before or complete a patch test before hand.
Cars - getting in way of traffic	4	9	36	Follow the green cross code, watch out for traffic.
Pedestrians - getting in shots	6	1	6	Be aware of pedestrians and refill if necessary, politely ask them to walk around or wait, don’t take up whole space.
Broken Glass - treading on any glass on the beach	3	4	12	Watch where you are walking and wear shoes if possible.
Nearest Telephone mobile phones	Nearest 24hr Doctor/Hospital Clacton&District Hospital

Beach

The first location that we are planning to film at is the beach. Over the next week or so I will begin to plan all of the different aspects for filming here, including make up, costume, shot types and risk assessments. This is important so that we are prepared when we film there.