Feedback

Very good feedback on the shoot day especially in consideration of the shoot day and the set design.  There is good reflection supported by images in the slideshow, although there is some improvement needed here in terms of how it is presented.  You show very good knowledge and understanding of the production process.

Evaluation of shoot day

We started the day by letting the band rehearse a few times whilst we set the lights and worked out where they would stand we then got the band members in to position them and make any adjustments to the set if we had to as we had hot bulbs and sharp bits of perspex hanging from the ceiling so we had to make sure everyone was safe. The first shot we did was an establishing wide shot to get all of the band members in also it helped us to see what the lights looked like on the monitor as it will look different on the monitor to what we could see with the naked eye.
The mirrors were only hung by a piece of string so they kept spinning round this meant we had to constantly adjust them and try to hide as much of the camera behind curtains as we didn't want it to be seen in the reflections, the spinning mirrors really were what we wanted as we wanted to create a distorted effect and use different reflections of the band. For some of the shots we held the mirrors out of shot for example we did a box of mirrors round the lead singers head we used a laser pen to make sure all the mirrors were positioned properly but it created a really good effect. One down side of the mirrors is we had to constantly watch out of reflections and the mirrors were only one sided so in order to keep good continuity we were constantly twisting them and repositioning them to their original place, the band members had to constantly keep playing also otherwise we may catch a glimpse of them just standing in in one of the spinning mirrors.

In pre production we decided we wanted to shoot each of the shoots individually but on the day it became apparent that this would take to long and be hard to replicate the effect we wanted in after effects, so we decided to shoot the band by panning the camera and focus pulling to different parts of the band and doing close ups of instruments and singers all one take, this created a really rock music effect as the jumpy camera work and quick movements almost makes it look like it was filmed live at a festival, the use of dry Ice in terms of mise en scene also added to the dark rock feel of the video as it associated with grave yards Michael Jackson thriller video.

The second part of the shoot consisted of the dancers for this we had to slightly re-arrange our set moving some of the mirrors back and putting them higher as we didn't want the dancers to get injured in the filming process. We gave the dancers time to rehearse and familiarize them selves with the track, we then got them to perform it and we tried to work out the best position for the first shoots for the camera as the used the entire studio space , we then began to do close up shots of their faces and body parts we decided to shoot this in a similar way to how we shot the band with moving the camera around and focusing on different points when we were filming, we also tried to reflect of the mirrors in the same way we did with the band, we then went onto use the Ginni lift for some high angle shots of the dancers, we then had a costume change and they then did the dance again. We then filmed specific bits of the dance we liked like the kiss and the lifts. Also we used a tissue to smudge Sophie's make up in order to make it look as if she was crying.

Our shoot overall went smoothly and better than expected with other groups saying how stressful theirs were I think the pre-production planning really helped us to have a smooth and well structured shoot.  It also helped that our band members could play the song on their instruments and they new the lyrics, especially the drums as it held the song together as the playback of the track wasn't as loud as we had hoped, the heavy black curtains muffled the sound which we had not anticipated.

Photos from shoot day

View more presentations from JamesTroughton.

Set build for our video

We started the build of our set by smashing the perspex mirrors we originally wanted to use glass but it was ton dangerous and expensive to do. We then started to hang the pieces from the ceiling at about head height we also hung light bulbs from the ceiling and connected them to the light controls in the studio she would program a sequence for the video we used different colored bulbs to make it more interesting these were also hung at different heights.

After setting up the set we then started to move the instruments into position for the band for the shoot the next day. 

Feedback

This is a good account of the process, but your evaluation needs more detail.  I would like to see a more academic reflection on the design, in terms of conventions, institutional practice and audience recognition feedback.  You could have for example explained how you were marketing a star image and why this is branded in your group design.  Also need a clearer account of what you achieved in this production process.

Poster Evaluation

As well as creating a digipack for the band, I also created posters the one above, I wanted it to be included as an extra in the CD cover, it has the song lyrics on in a similar text style to the bands name on the CD cover. This use of synergy will help to promote the band as it will be more recognisable. I used photoshop to create the poster above.

These are designs for a magazine advert for the band once again we used the bands name "synergy" in the red font in order to strengthen the bands branding through the use of synergy. In Our magazine advert we need to include a copyright logo and information on the record label.


The CD digipack, the magazine poster and the extra pull out poster are all tools to help the selling of our bands music to the consumer, also brandded items will help create a stronger fan base as people will start to collect them. The pull out poster has been used by artist before e.g. Madonna by Andy Warhol.

Evaluation of CD digipack and music poster

 For our digipack we all came up with initial ideas for the pack and the main front cover design, these were deigned by hand and didn't include any images of the band. 

When we moved onto designing the digipack once we had a final idea template drawn up we had some images of the band but they weren't at the desired quality level as the had been taken on a phone camera in order for our poster and digipack to look more professional we decided we had to use a good quality camera and a white background in order to get the crisp images we needed. We then went on too create the digipack design using Lightroom and Photoshop. 

One of the main tools that were used in creating the front cover was lasso tool to cut the individual photos out and also the main over all effect was created by using light leeks and the blur tool. 

This is the finished product for the Digipack design ^. 

The photo shot was the first time I had seen the band members together, this was good as we could work out who was going to play what instrument and role in the band we originally had ideas but we made a change to the band we swapped the original singer to guitar and the guitarist to singer. 

We took this photo like this in order to create a boy band star persona with the front man the singer at the front of the photo and the rest of the band behind him. 

The text font we used on our digipack is very recognisable and effectively could be a logo for the band it is called bleeding cowboys, also the red text color is very bold and stands out well this will help us to build a brand image for our band. All though we mixed our band up we still kept the boy band stereotype adding to our bands brand and saleability. 

CD pull out poster

Band Photo Shoot

We used the photography suit to take are photos as we wanted a clean white background.

Fold Out CD Poster

Within our Digipack we want to include a fold out poster like the ones above epically the Madonna the design we want to include the song lyrics and a large Iconic photo of the band much like the Madonna by Andy Warhol. The Measurements for the poster is 420 × 594 mm so it will be 3.5x12cm sections wide and 5x12 cm sections long

Where my Group is at

So far we are waiting to film our music video the shoot date is Tuesday the 22nd Of November, we are designing our digi pack for our band and we have started to design the poster.
 

The Design for our digipack so far. We may have to retake some of the photos of the band as the image quality is not good enough.

Letter To Record Label

To Epitaph Records
We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:

You Me At Six-Stay With Me

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely

Alexandra Blackock, Hannah Patey, Jim James Troughton, Sophie Loughridge

Hurtwood House School