MUSIC VIDEO EDITING: ADDING CAPTIONS (CONSTRUCTION)

One of the central ideas of our video was to have text, in the form of captions, on top of the image in each of our shots. We got this inspiration from a video similar to our own, but were initially unsure how to actually do this. In order to find out I proceeded to watch various tutorials on YouTube. 

When conducting my research I discovered that I had two options when it comes to adding text to our video. The first of which, and also the easiest of the two, is adding the text in within final cut pro 7.

My other option was to export the video out of final cut pro once we had finished our editing, then once this had been done import it into Adobe After Effects. Once it is in After Effects I could add the text.

A benefit of using fcp to create the captions is that it is simpler and would therefore not take as long to do. However, making the captions in After Effects would ensure that it would look better, and it also allows us to have the text track the visuals. It will be a slightly lengthier, more complex process but we hope it will be worth it.

ANCILLARY EDITING: INSIDE RIGHT (CONSTRUCTION)

This slideshow shows the progression that has been made during the editing stage of the inside right cover of our digipak ancillary. It also shows what has been done to the image to make it look different and explains why.


ANCILLARY EDITING: INSIDE RIGHT on PhotoPeach

ANCILLARY EDITING: INSIDE LEFT COVER (CONSTRUCTION)

This is the image that we are using, seen on the left as a plain image, without text and the track list. This image features a filter put on top of the whole image, done by flattening the layers to one image then putting a filter onto the layer which looked similar to the texturiser filter that we had used on the back and front covers. 

This is an alternative version of the same image. It is the same image and layers, however it has had a different filter applied to it, once again after flattening the image to one layer. We liked this image, especially how bold the outline of the chess piece looked. On the other hand, we thought that it did not fit the style of the other covers in the digipak, and the other option did as well as looking very clean and professional. When comparing the two we decided that the first image fit the digipak more and gave us greater consistency across the four panels, thus making our product seem less amateur.

Shown on the left hand side is the first image with some text added to it and also the track list added onto it. The text shows the credits of the album, featuring artists, producers etc. It also has the copyright information and the legal rights. These are conventions of digipaks and thus make our work fit the type of product as well as making this inside cover look more interesting. This is important to us as we have a young target audience, therefore understand the need to make our products exciting and colourful whilst sticking with the genre and themes, in order to attract the audience and correctly use conventions that will ensure our digipak fits into the intended genre.

ANCILLARY EDITING: MAGAZINE ADVERT (CONSTRUCTION)

Below is the step by step guide into how I edited the pink cloud into the sound cloud logo. All I've done is duplicate the cloud layer which is the predominant image in our advert, place the logo over it and cut the rest of the cloud out except from the part that will fit into the logo.

 

EXPLORING VARIOUS DIFFERENT EFFECTS ON PHOTOSHOP (CONSTRUCTION)

Playing around with different effects on photoshop on PhotoPeach

ANCILLARY EDITING: (RESEARCH)

We reached a point during the editing of our inside covers of our four panel digipak where we were stuck. The issue was that we weren't entirely sure what to put on the images of the inside covers, therefore we looked at similar products to our as well as other digipaks. Whilst conducting this research we came to the conclusion that a common convention of digipaks was to feature the track list of the album on one of the inside covers and the back cover. As we were unsure what to put on the inside and found it to be a common convention to put the track list on an inside cover we decided to do the same ourselves.

 ANCILLARY RESEARCH on PhotoPeach

ANCILLARY EDITING: FRONT COVER - ALTERNATIVE IDEAS (CONSTRUCTION)

ANCILLARY EDITING: FRONT COVER - ALTERNATIVES on PhotoPeach
This slideshow on PhotoPeach shows some alternative ideas that we had and created in the editing process of our front cover.

ANCILLARY EDITING: FRONT COVER (CONSTRUCTION)

ANCILLARY EDITING: FRONT COVER on PhotoPeach                



This is a presentation done on PhotoPeach, showing the development in the front cover of our product through the process of adding finishing touches and textures and filters.

ANCILLARY EDITING: BACK COVER (CONSTRUCTION)

Shown below are three versions of our ancillary back cover, made at different stages during the editing process, showing the progression we have made whilst editing. 

Above is the first of the three images, which shows our back cover with the text in the form of the tracklist, barcode, record labels and the main image which features on the cover. We were relatively happy with this product but felt that it was potentially missing something to make it look more professional or possibly more exciting. The consensus among people we had shown it too was that it was a little plain and simple. So with this in mind we decided to make amendments.

Here you can see that we have made some slight alterations to our back cover, adding in a texture filter called texturizer. We were very happy with how this had transformed the product, making it look far less amateur and also making it look more aesthetically pleasing. We also had changed the text size and the style of font that displayed the tracklist.

The final change was to the text again, returning it to it's previous size and also font type. We did this as it looks better in terms of the composition of the cover, and also it helps us achieve some consistency in the use of text within the digipak. The front cover of the digipak also features the use of this style of font, of the exact font to be specific.

PHOTOGRAPHY & LIGHTING FOR OUR ANCILLARY (PLANNING)

When planning for our ancillary it is important that we focus on the photographs we take/use because this will make or break the task set of a digipak and magazine advert. When taking the photos we need to remember all the basics and starting adding more complex things in later. The basics include lighting, shutter speed, composition which breaks up into different parts which consist of rule of thirds, changing angles and perspective and several more. When taking the photos we will need a high quality camera to make it seem more professional.

We wont be focusing as much on the lighting that is on the photos we use we will be mainly using natural light. This is because of the use of props in our ancillary meaning that there wont be any hassle with lights from different angles or any over or underexposure. If this is the case we can easily retake the photos due to the accessibility of the props being used in the shooting. The photos we will be planning to take will most likely be of some props that are featured in our music video so the audience can get a slight idea of what the video is about but still leaving that enigma making the audience wanting to know what the images of the props are about and why they are there.

These are two of the pictures we have taken and are thinking about using for our digipak. These are our first takes and we have noticed an area we could improve when retaking these photos for the chess piece we could use more light but we need to be careful of any reflection that could come of the piece. Again we were thinking of adding slightly more light to try and fit the genre better which we have gathered from previous planning that its more brighter colours although on our ancillary we are going to use bright text. That text will take the majority of the attention on the digipak although by having pictures which look professional and also relatable to our music video.

IDEAS FOR BACK COVER OF DIGIPAK (CONSTRUCTION)

Here are two digipak ideas we have come up with using photoshop. The main theme which we are using throughout is the pink writing and the smoke. This ties in with the original Flume album and fits the genre very well. We tried to keep some similarities to original because we felt it was a strong album cover and didn't need much tampering with. These are our first two ideas but at this current stage the second design looks like our better choice after getting some feedback from other students and teachers.

ANCILLARY EDITING: BACK COVER (CONSTRUCTION)

 I started off by taking a screenshot of an image from the music video to use as a still image on the back cover of the digipak. This image acted as the main feature on the back cover.

The next step was importing this image into Photoshop and putting it onto a black background using the fill bucket tool, which is shown above. Then I added the text, using the T tool on photoshop and carefully positioned it so that it was not hidden or shadowed by the smoke whatsoever. With the colouring of the text I downloaded the image shown below from the internet and used the colour sampler tool to sample the exact same colour that was used in Flumes original album cover and throughout many of his promotional pieces and use this in our digipak. I chose to do this as it is easy to replicate and is something simple that can be recognisable throughout various pieces of media, thus creating consistency in our promotion of the artist. Shown on the right is the colour sampler tool.

Our back cover for our CD album features the use of a barcode, which was found on the internet and imported into Photoshop and placed on the cover. The use of a barcode helps make the product seem more professional, as it is a convention use in all digipaks.

Shown on the left hand side is a screen grab of how the back cover looked at one point during the construction and editing stage. Shown in the drop down menu are various effects that I trialled on different layers of the product, eventually deciding to use the "hue" effect - adding it to the cloud of smoke on the left part of the cover. I believed that this looked interesting whilst sticking with the pink and white colour scheme and keeping the back cover quite individual and conceptual - one key theme that we tried to ensure we proficiently portrayed through the use of our promotional activities, in order to show consistency in the music video, digipaks and magazine advert.

ANCILLARY SKETCH: POST-FEEDBACK (PLANNING)

This re-sketch just contains a couple of small amendments but is a lot more detailed. I've added in the positioning and style of the writing on the front cover and also changed the layout on the back page.

 

ANCILLARY PHOTOSHOOT (CONSTRUCTION)

These are the photos we took using a Sony Handy cam which can be seen in the other photo shoot post.

 

We took shots for our inside left and inside right panel of our digipak.

  
We took stills of the chess pieces from a straight on view but at different sizes in the framing, zooming in or out accordingly to do so.

  
There are pictures of both the black chess piece and the white chess piece, one a King and one a Queen.

These pieces signify the male and female that are featured in our video and will hopefully act as a subtle link that will provide the audience that recognise this with a pleasure of feeling intelligent and therefore make them appreciate the thoughts behind the link.