Rough Cut Feedback

Our rough cut being complete, we had a viewing in front of our classmates in order to obtain relevant feedback. This feedback will be critical to the development of our video; for us to improve aspects of the video. By getting different viewpoints on the strong and weak points of our video, we will now be able to progress the editing stages in order to achieve our final cut.
.

Below are the main positive and negative points we obtained via our initial feedback.

'I really like the firework overlay; it gives the video a powerful start'.

'The alley way gets a bit repetitive'.

'Slightly out of sync at the beginning'.

'The burning photo is a really brilliant ending'.

Rough Cut

Fireworks - Rough Cut from Media Group on Vimeo.

The 'Professional Look'

Many examples we have seen of A2 media videos; however good the composition may be, are let down slightly by the amateur looking colour. It is plain to see that the work they have produced has been filmed on a small camera and retains the basic look of a family video.

To attempt to avoid this fault, we will try to use the right amount of colour correction on our video without going over the top and making it so heavily edited it breaks the illusion. The basic concept of colour correction and the changes it can make to footage can be seen in this video:

Filming Production Images

Below is a compilation of shots from when our group were 'out and about' filming.

Filming Production Photos from Media Group on Vimeo.

Locations

Before beginning Our video we needed find suitable locations which would match the genre of our music. As a group we came to a decision that the best environment would be in rural areas as we believe our target audience would be attracted to the idea of abandoned/ mysterious places. When brainstorming idea's to display the character's sense of loss and heartbreak, we needed to find locations which accentuate the artists isolation from the rest of the world, trapped in his own emotions.

The first location we found was an Alley way not far from our school. Immediately we thought that the location matched the chosen criteria and the rural/ natural environment could be utilised in sections of our music video. Our initial thoughts was that this location would be best suited to the walking/ rapping sequence we plan to incorporate during the verses.

Images of the other location (Car Park) will be taken when actually filming the footage and can be viewed in a later post.

Filming Schedule

Below is a basic template for our shooting schedule. We are going to attempt to film a location a day next month (January). However, these dates are just a guideline and may change! Nevertheless, the dates have been agreed by the group and our actor as ideal times for filming. We cannot predict such aspects as weather and footage quality; however when filming posts are written, such predicaments will be explained.

.

Risk Assessment

1. What potential hazards will be encountered?

· Glass- In our video we plan for our artist to smash a photo frame containing the image of the girl who broke his heart. Therefore, the actual process of smashing it may cause glass shards to fly off and hit someone or scatter around the area we are videoing in.

· Fire- We also plan to burn an image of the artists love interest in our video. This process will involve the use of flammable products such as lighter fluid and fire lighters; possible burn injuries may occur whilst lighting the image.

2. How will these hazards be prevented?

· All footage will be filmed from a substantial distance. In the case of the smashing glass, this will be carried out in as minimal ferocity as possible in order to prevent shards flying in an uncontrolled manor. Glass shards are extremely sharp and dangerous, these could be hazardous to any one of the group and mainly the actor.
Also, sheets will be put down surrounding the area to prevent the glass being left behind once the filming has been done.

· Again all footage will be filmed at a substantial distance in case large flames are produced. when lighting the image protective gloves will be worn and the surrounding area is fire resistant.

3. What potential location hazard(s) will be encountered?

· Filming in multi-story car park- In our video we will have footage of our artist on the top floor of a car park. vehicles will constantly be on the move around our filming area. Also we will be filming at the edge of the car park in order to gain some perspective of being up high; therefore there is a rather large drop over the edge.

4. How will these hazards be prevented?

· We will be cautious at when we use the car park, setting up in areas where the cars cannot go. We will also make sure that our artist and equipment don’t get to close to the edge but still maintaining the perspective of height.

DigiPak Rough Designs

After looking at many different DigiPak design I began experimenting with possible layouts and ideas on photoshop. When designing the front covers I wanted to incorporate a reference to fire or fireworks in order to maintain the continuity with the song. My first attempt was a basic image on our artist aflame on top of a distressed background. Although this was a really cool piece to work on as a group we felt it was not Digipak material. The second attempt was a sort of textured/ cartoonized effect which had a very eye-catching style with a lot going on. Below are the steps taken to produce this design.

DigiPak Front- To start off I opened up the photoshop software and created a blank 12' 12cm document which match the dimensions of a DigiPak front. I then needed to manipulate a basic image of our artist so that it looked like a sketched image. In order to do this I had to desaturate the image before going to the filter tool and modifying the sketch settings in order to get the required style. I then started to experiment with the blending options before ending up with my final image. I then brought in a textured canvas style image which I used for the background. This gave the whole theme of the DigiPak is distressed feel which suits the target audience. I then created a black strip to act as a footer before putting the 'Parental Advisory' label in the bottom right corner. To give the 'Fireworks' title its effect I simply merged the text layer with the black footer before using the magic wand tool in order to just leave the impression of the 'Fireworks' text behind. The text I used was called 'Roadway', a very bold but simplistic text which makes a statement similar to DigiPak's of the same genre. I used a very simple outer glow from the blending options to make the text even more obvious.
The final step was to bring in the impression of some actual Fireworks. In order to do this I had to use tools such as the magic wand, background eraser as well as the hue saturation, opacity setting and some basic glow blending options. To finish off I duplicated the canvas texture and turned down the opacity in order to give all aspects (except the artist image) that textured style.DigiPak Back- To maintain the continuity of the piece I again used the same background image. The difference with this set up The photoshop canvas width had to be increased by 0.8cm as the spine of the DigiPak must be incorporated. I simply created another black strip with a smaller light coloured strip overlayed to act as the spine. Again I used the same techniques as before to create the black footer and the Firework template.
I then added the some basic features seen on nearly all DigiPak's into the footer; barcode, recycling logo and the disc logo. By added these keeps the conventions of a DigiPak. Again using the 'Roadway' text I added the album title and artist to the spine in order for the album to be easily distinguishable in a CD rack. I then incorporated the record label's logo and some basic information in order to make the piece look more authentic.
To create the tracklist I again used the 'Roadway' text to keep the piece flowing. I used a light colour from the background for the colour of each songs title as well as using black for any song that contained a featuring artist. In blending options I again used a light outer glow as well as using a drop shadow matching a darker aspect from the canvas background. I feel using these colours in the text maintains the theme of the DigiPak. To finish I moved the positioning of the tracklist to give it an unconventional effect.
DigiPak Inside Left- This very basic design again contained the same background and Firework Image, however in different positioning. I then created a simple black box with the opacity turned down in order to show the taxtured background. I then brought in the Young Money Entertainment logo into the document before using the magic wand tool and the outer glow setting to give the basic shape of the piece. I then decreased the size of our artists image before placing it on top of the record labels logo.
The text again in the 'Roadway' style was inserted first in a basic white format whcih works effectively with it's black backdrop. I then used the same settings as on the tracklist for the middle section whcih contains the message, in order to maintain the continuity with the DigiPak's back cover.
DigiPak Inside Right- For this section I used the exact same backdrop as on the inside left side. I felt this part did not need any more elements as it would have a plastic covering and disc masking it for the majority of the time. In order to create the plastic disc holder I placed a basic template on a white backdrop into photoshop. I then used the magic wand tool to remove the white background. I then brought in a plastic sheet image in from the internet before turing the opacity down. These layers were then meged together before I used the inner bevel in the blending options to give the piece a more realistic impression.

Shot List

.
Above are some shots we plan our video to be mainly composed of. Our video will require numerous shots in order to make our video look authentic. It will also grab the audiences attention more than if only a few different shots were used.

Clothing Ideas

Our ideas for clothing in the music video is to blend both formal and casual dress sense together. We decided this would reflect the different aspects of our artists life. Some scenes will have Remi dressed in shirt and tie, others in casual clothing.
.

Magazine Advertisement Creation- Research

As part of the Ancillary task I also have to design a magazine advertisement for the release of my new DigiPak. To create the advertisement I have looked at some existing adverts in as shown below.
.

As a group, we began to discuss ideas for our Magazine Advertisement design. Sharing the same vision for our video, we want our magazine advertisement to be bold and easily recognisable to maintain the continuity to the style of the music. It has to evoke the same image that we will convey through our video. The above images are some examples of some magazine advertisements for DigiPak's found in magazines.

DigiPak's- A Closer Look

Features and Requirements

When creating our Ancillary tasks, certain elements must be incorporated into the design (especially the DigiPak).

.

Parental Advisory- In 1990, the US recording industry introduced Parental Advisory labels to identify music containing explicit language, including depictions of violence and sex. For consumers, the system has its drawbacks. Companies and artists voluntarily label their products, so consumers can't automatically assume that music without a label will be appropriate for all ages.

.

DigiPak Creation- Research

Before creating our own DigiPak we thought it would be a good idea to look at other DigiPak in order to discover suitable conventions for its front, back, disc and inside panels.

.

What is a DigiPak?

DigiPaks are a patented style of compact disc packaging. They typically consist of a book-style, paperboard or cardstock outer binding with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD attached to the inside. DigiPaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies. DigiPak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special edition versions of an album.

. The single covers below are generally that of artists that adopt the R&B/ Rap culture. Our genre of song falls into this category so the covers will be beneficial when designing our own. Each of these covers have a picture of the artist on them (abstract or not) which is one of many conventions which fall under our genre of music.

.

The images below are of the backs of DigiPaks. The main feature shown on the back of a DigiPak is list of tracks in which the CD contains. If you were looking at just a DigiPak for a single (one song) like we are then the majority of this type of DigiPak would show an average of three tracks consisting of: the original track, a clean track and an instrumental.

The CD's below are the sort of thing you would find in a DigiPak of today. Every CD has its own unique style or image even though the majority have the same criteria on them. As you can see some styles of CD are covered with an image whilst others choose not to have an image at all. However, most CD's have the name of the artist, the name of the single/ album and copyright information.

As shown below, most DigiPak's containing a single have only one disc, therefore will only have two inside panels. The left side will be open and therefore would normally have much more detail then the right panel as that will have the CD covering it most of the time. On the left panel there is normally have another track listing as well as having information about the writers and producers. At the bottom there also normally consists various music labels and logos.

Final Interpretation- Brief Insight

• The first location for our music video will be in a dark room with a strobe light illuminating the artist who will be sitting in a large chair. The constant flashing of the strobe light we intend to go along with the sounds of fireworks.
• The artist will be staring at the camera whilst with each flash he goes further into the distance before finally ending with a direct close up of the artists face.
• A candle will be used as a prop in this sequence. We intend that the candle goes out the same time as the strobe lighting stops, casting the location into total darkness before a pause and then the first verse will begin.
• Throughout the music video we will constantly be cutting to an alley location. The first shot in verse one will be a close up of the artists face in order to maintain the continuity from the previous sequence.
• The main theme of this music video will be based around emotional turmoil. We intend for our artist to walk around aimlessly, suffering from emotional heartache.
• His relationship was unsuccessful and this video represents how he feels and reacts towards it being over. References to the female will be done by image only.

Initial Idea- Alterations

Considering that the group will need to return to our filming location several times in order to perfect our video, we think it would be unpracticle, however fitting, to shoot the video in central London. Instead, we will use alley ways and roof tops that can be found locally. This will mean we can be far more efficent when filming and we can return and redo it as much as we like.

Another change we will make to our original pitch is the use of a girl in the video. It has become clear that no girl fitting to the role we need will be available in the times we need. For this reason, we will do the video without the girl, and will focus the entire video on our main artist.

Cast

Drake- Remi Akinkunle

Age- 17

Costume:

• Black Tie/ White shirt- Brown coat
• White shirt
• Body Warmer

Remi is a Wilmington Grammar 6th form student who is also a member of 'FourReal', an up and coming music group. Remi himself has very good music expertise as a singer which we believe will enable him to mimic Drake's vocals to a high standard. Remi also falls into the Urban category via the music he listens to and the way he dresses. We believe these factors maintain the continuity of the performer and the performance.

Cast

Heartbreaker/ Love interest- Antonia Ali
Age- 18

Costume (In photographs):

• Blue summer dress
• Blue jumper

Antonia is a friend of the groups, she is a 6th form student at Bexleyheath Grammar school. We decided to use her image in our video as she has been to many photo shoots and done video's in the past. I believe her images would be ideal to impersonate the main artists love interest/ the Heartbreaker in our music video.

Mood Board

For this project, when planning how we were going to under take each task we decided to construct a basic moodboard. The compilation of images below shows a montage of images that represent our ideas for the music video and the ancillary tasks.

Included in the mood board are images that represent, clothing, locations and metaphorical devices we plan to incorporate in our project. There are also shots of camera shots as well as poses we may use for the ancillary tasks.

Copyright Permission

In order to use 'Fireworks' for our A Level project; which includes creating a music video, digi-pack and a magazine advertisment for the digi-pack, we had to contact the copyright holder of the album in which the song is within. This was an essential part in being allowed to use the song as without permission we could face a fine.

Copyright Law

.

During research we found out that 'Fireworks' was a song on Drakes new album 'Thank me Later'. This album was released on Young money Entertainment and Cash money Records on June 15, 2010. Below is the letter we sent to these labels asking permission to use this song.

.

Below is a copy of the letter we sent to the Copyright Holder:

.