Developing our digipak (4)

For help with our inside digipak, my group and I looked at some digipaks in class to give us inspiration to what we should put in our inside cover of the digipak. We found an inside of a digipak online which had the same genre as our EDM digipak:

This digipak has writing about his fans, his family and his journey to where the artist is today. However, we did feel as if there was just too much writing on the inside panel to our liking, so David created another draft of the digipak so we could see our digipak as a final products with all sides completed:

The feedback we received from this draft was that the text was too big and it seemed too many companies which he was thanking and that the description of him, about his age, was not needed. 

There were also other digipaks which we saw in class, for example there is one below, which is quite opposite to the other exemplar digipak:

Even though this inside (along with others) showed an image of the band/artist it didn't really fit with our genre and style of our artist. This was the same with most of the examples which we looked at but we are looking to extend on our last draft of our digipak.

Developing our digipak (3)

As a group we feel as if we have now completed and 'locked in' our outside cover. The only part which we didn't look to change which was brought up by the focus group is the fact that it may be too light compared to the website and the video. The front and back of the digipak is below:

The inside

David has developed three new ideas to look at which is similar to the original but the difference being the use of colours and the way we use our artist inside the digipak.

The feedback on the digipak ideas was positive as they loved the idea of carrying on the front cover and they said that it was a good idea to have it behind the disk. As a group we agreed that we should go with behind the CD having the front cover on it. This is because in the focus group they loved the ‘minimalistic’ aspect of it and the insides was too complicated and too much for their liking. Now we need to figure out what we can do with the other side. David created some ideas and Jonty and I gave him feedback on them:

The feed back which was given to David was that we agreed that it may work in black and white and when he gave us the idea of the lines we completely supported the idea as the idea of disclosure was pictures however with the crosses and the way that the lines were drawn through the software (which was a good idea) didn't work to portray the genre. David has an idea that he will graphically trace a picture of the drum pad and some different elements of our products to convey the EDM genre.

Moving forward

We are going to be taking all of the feedback from our focus group on board and we are starting to adapt our website and digipak in a way that would show the artist in the representation we have given him (blog below).

Development of the digipak

As a group we think the colour of the paint swirls should be darker and increase the saturation.

Developing our products

The main aim at the moment is to go forward from the feedback of the focus group and to make sure that our products all link. Today we spoke about key representations of our star image. These representations are below:

• Modern
• Partying
• Cool
• Sexy

It is a main priority to make sure that all of our products link together as one as it will show our artists in the same way. 

Today's focus group

Getting ready for our focus group Jonty has been making question for them so that we can adapt our digipak and website in a way that would be better for our final products. Jonty's questionnaire is below:

Their response

Key Points (Digipak)

• They believed the digipak seemed electronic, indie/rock.
• They said that the digipak was similar to artists such as, Disclosure, Flume, Sbtrkt.
• More of a pattern on the disc area.
• They said the digipak may need a darker design. 
• They also said that the inside portrait needs to be more modern (clothing). 
• Finally, they said that the inside of the digipak needed to be more minimalistic.

Key Points (Website)

• They said that we should change the fonts to more of an EDM style as it seems too punk and rap.
• They liked the artist name.
• Have a lighter background to link with the digipak.
• Have performance shots.
• More minimalistic.
• Change the clip art banners to be more modern (EDM).
• The stills need coloured filters (not B&W).

Key Points (Video)

• They said it linked to the digipak but not as much much linked to the website.

The video that we showed our focus group:

The website that we showed our focus group:

The digipak that we showed our focus group is below:

Developing our digipak (2)

Today, David and I sorted out and prepared our digipak where we went to the photography department to cut all of our templates out with the guillotine. After we cut them all out we went back to the classroom to meet with Jonty, who was preparing for tomorrows focus group. We stuck the digipaks together (5 of them) so that everyone would be able to have a look in the group and that we would be able to see it as it would look as one of our final products. These images are below:

In the top left we can see the front cover of the first draft of our digipak. In the top middle we can see both of the inside templates and then on the right there is the back page of our digipak. Below is the front and bacK (due to how it was printed). The image below shows all 5 of the digipaks we printed ready for tomorrows focus group:

Editing (7)

Talking to Luke

Today I spoke to Luke to double check whether it was up to standard to be ready to be published and marked as done. He said yes! Now I can get the video exported onto a memory stick (to my laptop) for the focus group on Friday. This will give us, as a group, if all of our product are seen as portraying the same genre so that they can compliment each other with our campaign. 

What's next 

Now we have to focus in the digipak and website to make sure they are at a high quality, which I'm sure they are as it is Jonty and David in charge of that are. I will be helping them with what they need. For example, preparing the digipak for Friday. 

Editing (6)

Today I went over what I was going to do with my music video and its ending. I spoke to Matt and we discussed how the water sequence which was the original ending as we have around 10 shots with this strand but we felt as if it just come out of nowhere as there is no water throughout the video and that we would be introducing this strand within the final 30 second of the video. After discussing I came to the conclusion of just not using the footage at all and I was going to continue with the idea of the dancers with the blue and red lights on either side and different shots of them at pace. All I am not eating for is the approval from Luke!

Focus Groups

Aim of a focus group

To develop a understanding of products and use this to refine our promo products.

Objectives

Learn how to find facilitate effective focus group and prepare to host one on Friday.

Through focus groups they are going to receive qualitative (opinions and feelings) so that the business (the people pitching) can review what their focus group say about their product(s) so that they can change or remove unwanted parts.

Effective research requires contributors who reflect the target audience in terms of age, gender, population, etc.

Things to avoid in a focus group

• Closed questions (don’t give much space for an answer)
• Leading questions (edges the respondents to give a specific answer)

Whats important

• 8-10 participants so all can be heard and not felt pressured.
• Pre-prepared questions and make sure that you ask all of them and that you are ready of the focus group.
• Record the session to make sure that you know everything what was said (full set of data).
• Introduction for the focus group (help the participant understand what is going to be talked about).
• Keep it so that everyone gets to talk (politely).

What useful things can come out of a focus group

• Observations that we were unaware of before about how the products may be interpreted by an audience.
• Suggestions about how the products might be further refined to make them more effective.

What to remember for our focus group

• We need to show the digipak and website BEFORE the video. This will enable us to test out whether or not the focus group can identify the genre the act is working in (which should obviously be given away by the video.
• We should defend our products at all. In fact we should just try to remain silent which they are talking (the people presenting to our focus group). We can reject ideas after the focus group but if we shut down the respondents during the presentation we wont be able to gather their true views.

Editing (5)

Getting started on 'the drop' of our music video i had to really pick up the pace. The progress I have made is below:

Editing (4)

For the past day or two I have been creating the much wanted graphical match for my video. It have been quite a tedious and time consuming process as the cutting of the two dancers was difficult to cut on the beat and with the dance.

Editing (3)

For the past few days I have been adding to my project. The progress I have made is shown below:

Developing our digipak (1)

David, on digipaks, has been going through creating a first idea. I have given him some help with ideas and minor details but I have been mainly focussing on the editing of my piece. We did manage to come up and create a first draft which was had a front, two insides (one for disc) and back (for the song list of album). Below is our first draft:

 Front

 Inside left

 Inside right (disc)

 Idea for back (1)

 Idea for back (2)

Idea for back (3)

Editing (2)

This week's aim for the editing process is to continue on with completing a full cut with the dancers and the performance together. This should enable to my group and I to go into the Christmas holidays in a completed or a very secure and comfortable position with the coursework. To date, after finishing the performance cut, I have been able to start editing the dancers of my video by placing them on top of the already existing footage of the performance cut. I have only completed around 20-30 seconds worth of the dancers footage to go into the final video but this time has been used to figure out what type of editing style I was going to go for. I have now decided that it would be best for the dancers to be very quick cut and pacy throughout the video and especially on the 'drop' of the song.

Editing (1)

For the past two weeks of editing daily I have been creating a performance cut before I start to add in the other strand of dancing and the water effects. Below is the performance cut without the dancers:

Evaluation of shoot day (3)

I would say the changing of the dancers and order of what we were doing because we already planned the everything we wanted to go into our video. Overall, it just all went effectively. One part of which could have gone better. David took part with the directing of how the performers looked but not what movements they did. The main direction he gave them was to just “jam out” on the drop of the song. Looking at what we did with the talent we used we got the dancers to do freestyle as David (who is a dancer) said that freestyle can really show your own personality and character in dance. He did give them parts to work on (the specific genre) but apart from a small amount of managing and telling them do better or change parts we didn't create anything at all. Whilst they were dancing David did help them if they did get stuck by standing next to the camera and to give them a few pointers. 

Throughout the day I enjoyed how it was a very relaxed experience of a task which could, very easily, become overly stressful. This was kept relaxed throughout the day because of the way the group and our cast (most importantly the group) worked together as we all helped each other and let one one another to work individually is they wanted. After filming and starting to edit our work (which is my job, editing) I am looking forward to finish with the performance cut and start on the dancers, especially the graphical matching which was highlighted when receiving feedback. 

One big thing which I feel that we learned which would help in the future is that we needed to be more organised in the different shots we wanted and how we were going to take them. This would help as it would give us a set out plan and less time thinking about what we are going to do next. One thing which may have effected our website and digipak is the use of the band as they played a much bigger part but we did use our lead on his own so we haven't limited what we can use. We were going to have logo as a crown but the crown kept on falling off. So we managed to have it on a shot were he wasn’t moving so we can still have it as a logo if we wanted to. 

Evaluation of shoot day (2)

Dividing the roles came naturally as we started to shoot. This was because as we started with the performance element Jonty was on the drum pad so he was in front of the camera. I went to do the camera work for the first half of the day. David was doing most of the directing while I was on the camera along with playback. After we had finished with the performance element I took charge of playback which Jonty was on camera. David was directing as he knew all about our dance element (what to do and how to do it). 

As a team we worked efficiently and sufficiently throughout the day to make sure that we could get all we needed to get done, done. I feel as if I performed well, using the camera with the different shots (along with using the dolly for the first time).

One problem which we had was that Matty needed a risk assessment for his flips so we organised getting that sorted the day before and on the shoot day we needed a particular person watching him while he did it. That person was busy, so instead of getting Matty done straight away we did all the dancers until the person was ready to watch Matty and then he did his flips and we carried on as normal. Other that that there wont many problems at all. Apart from our lead (Gareth) who wore a crown which kept falling off so we go rid of it.

Evaluation of shoot day (1)

The day before our shoot my group and I went into the studio to help clear up the group before us to we could get straight into it on the day. We also looked at making sure our costume was exactly where we needed it to be ready for the day (shown in a previous blog).

The morning of our shoot day the team (my group and I) double checked that we had everything to bring into school, along with checking of our cast remember what they needed to wear/bring in as well.

Before we started shooting, at breakfast, we got the cast to meet us upstairs at 8:40 so we would be ready to get starting with the day at 8:45. After we met everyone upstairs and we were all together we gave the cast their coloured dungarees to they could get a feel for them and then (for the dancers) David took them to the dance studio to check if the costume was good and they could perform at their full before they were on camera. As the dancers were practicing I went into the studio to help set up the first set of which we first shot for. 

The first set we shot is shown below and it looked pretty much identical to how we wanted it to. This was the performance set with the lead singer and the two backups on the drumpad and keyboard. In the background was the lighting which were pixel lights.

Splitting up

Now, as a group, we have finished our shoot and that there are three of us we can each split up into different sections for our coursework. I have taken the role of editing, Jonty and David are both looking at digipaks and websites until they have decided who is doing who (they are doing it together). I am going to be using the same software as last year for my thriller and using the skills and techniques which I learned at the end of A1 school year.

Costumes for our shoot

The day before our shoot day we went to double check on our costumes and props for 'the big day'. This turned out to have a very positive response with the costumes as they fit perfectly. In evaluation of looking at the costumes we changed the idea of the crown as we felt that it came across as too 'tacky'.

E-mailing the make up artist

David e-mailed the makeup artist to let her know that we will need her on the 03/11/2016 for our shoot day. The e-mail that he sent is below:

She replied with this e-mail:

So David responded with giving her what time we would need her and what may be needed, this is below:

This process of e-mailing the make up artist was to make sure that she was as fully informed of what was needed on the day as possible (all the detailed she would need).

Feedback on the test shoot

In yesterday's lesson my group and I showed the class the test shoot, of which I edited, to receive feedback on what went well and what didn't work as nicely. This feedback is shown below:

Pulling out the key points:

Positives

• The idea of the graphical matching in the video works well as it really intrigued the viewers.
• They liked how simple the idea watched as it sill worked.
• They also enjoyed the use of gymnastics (Matty's flip on the drop).
• Overall, they seemed to like the video as a whole. However, there were some issues and thoughts which they picked up on. These are below:

Negatives

• There was a dancer in the test shoot (Klaudia) which isn't as experienced and technical compared to the others in this style making her stand out as the one who wasn't as good. 
• In response to this Klaudia is going to now have a similar role as Matty in the video (flips and kicks).
• They also suggested that there should be more of the drum pad and Gareth's performance as too much of the dancing can make it repetitive.
• In the test shoot their wasn't much use of the lighting type of which we would use in our actual video so they questioned our lighting but we explained what our lighting was going to be like and they like that idea.
• A final piece of constructive criticism take from this research task is that the song may be too long. They said that it would be a good idea to cut the song down to 2 minutes as the extra 50 seconds on top of this can cause the viewer to get bored and not enjoy the video.

Final Test Shoot Before Our Shoot Day

An update on the test shoot

After working this week on this test shoot I have completed half of the video and adding in the footage for the other half to complete the video. In this update I haven't included Megan Mackay or Victoria Bird but the footage of them, I will add in the final video at the end of this week. This video is shows below: 

Letting Luke know about our costumes

Today, David e-mailed Luke about our costumes to confirm what the school need to collect and what we will have ready for shoot day. The e-mail is shown below:

Looking at our shoot day

My group and I are shooting our music video on Thursday 3rd or November and we have got to see who we can definitely have in our video. These are:

• Gareth Donkin - The Performer
• Victoria Bird - The Keyboard Player
• Jonty Harrison - The Drumpad Player
• Charlotte McGee - Dancer
• Matt Muncey - Dancer
• Megan Mackay - Dancer
• David Heal - Dancer
• Anastasia Tyutina - Dancer
• Maddie Bowyer
• Klaudia Wyzykiewicz

After receiving this list we did a test shoot with Charlotte McGee and the footage is in editing for the new test shoot. Before half term we will have shot everyone for test footage and the video would be released.

Crucial tasks which need to be done before the shoot day

Today we discussed what NEEDS to be done before the shoot day. There were three main points which was asked for us to be done. 

• Understanding of the final product (how it is going to look and whether it will work) so we are prepared for the shoot day (test shoot).
• Rehearsals with our on screen talent.
• Art direction — pre-production, getting costume, making sets, props, booking locations.

A new test shoot with more dancers

David and I filmed a few more actors/dancers to use in our next test footage update, which is being edited at the moment.

So far we have filmed around 5 possible dancers to make sure they will be up to standard for the music video. Before looking at who we were going to film or think about putting in the video David and I went up to the Dance Department and asked for those who were the most talented at doing commercial (Hip-Hop). She gave us a list of 6 dancers:

• Eden Bowyer
• Daisy Jelly 
• Vogue Phelps
• Elise Bugeja
• Amy Lam
• Honor Idlery

The dancers which we have filmed so far have been:

• Vogue Phelps
• Anastasia Tyutina
• David Heal
• Klaudia Wyzykiewicz
• Matt Muncey

These dancers are being edited to make some test footage along with Gareth (main singer).

E-mailing possible cast members

Through the week Jonty e-mailed a few possible cast members to take part in out music video. Images of these e-mails are shown below:

Meeting with our set designers

In todays lesson we talked to the set designer for our music video and we discussed what would be achievable and what wouldn't. They said that the actual set of which we created to show them would be achievable. We also showed them our test footage (2) and we received feedback on that. 

When we spoke about our sets they said that they are definitely achievable as there isn't much set but more to do with the lighting. But when we mentioned the water there was some hesitation due to the fact that the set is mainly lighting it may cause a serious problem. Along with this after we showed them the test shoot footage which was filmed they saw the same as we did. This was the idea that some of the dancers and and dances they performed wouldn't fit the video and that we needed to review who we were going to use and what they would do.

Test Footage 2

When looking at dancers we decided to do a second test shoot looking at what different dances we can add to this music video. In this video we can see that some of the footage would work very well in the video but there is also and aspect that the dances performed by most of the dancers in the video might not fit and may not work. For example David'd dances and a few more like the leg kick and others, shown below:

However there is some aspect which won't work and don't fit in the video. The full test shoot (2) is below:

Finding our performer

What is now needed for our music video

List for music video

• Set design, a sketch of the set and the things you want on it and photographs of what it should look like.
• Prop and costume list. First section of what you need to get, you need photographs to help explain. Second half is what you provide and that needs to broken down to group members.
• Prototype, either animatic or test video. 

Prop list:

Drum pad

Drum pad stand

Keyboard

Keyboard stand

Microphone

Mic stand

See through trays x2

Costume list:

White Dungarees x3

Black t-shirt x9

Black shoes x3

Golden crown

White shoes x6

Blue dungarees x1

Red dungarees x1

Matt Muncey; blue
Megan Mackay; blue
Alice Marriot; blue

David Heal; red

Jonty Harrison; red

Charlotte McGee; red

Set Design