Music video ancillary task: Digipak

This is the front cover for my digipak.

This will unfold to show the Director's thankyou, the lyrics and production stills.

When turned over this will show a poster containing production stills.

This is the disc.

When the disc is removed, you will be able to see the inside of the tray inlay.

This is the very back of the album.

Music video ancillary task: Web page

This is the link to my web page.
www.wix.com/YNWAMediaProductions/Media-Studies-coursework

Audience feedback: Music video

After making the changes mentioned in the previous audience feedback for the first cut of the music video, I showed the video to my target audience again. I asked them to say what they liked about the film and what they thought could be improved.

This is what they said they liked:
“Some nicely composed shots, eg. him in the woods and the silhouettes.”
“It’s all in time and very ‘to the beat’. It’s proper good.”
“Good use of camera angles. Loved the shots of the guy singing in different places.”
“I like the way the lyrics of the song fit well with what is happening in the film and the switch from the boy singing alone to shots of him with the girl.”
“I like how the events match the music, the variety of places used and the way the shots sometimes match the beat.”
“I like the storyline and that it followed as most pop videos do. The lip syncing appeared to be in time. The weather and costume is appropriate. I like the use of silhouettes. I don’t have any suggestions. Good job.”
“Was good.”

This is what they said they thought could be improved:
“Add special effects when he is singing - different effect for each location.”
“Maybe some special effects or something.”
“The boy doesn’t look like he is singing at times but it’s not very noticeable.”
“Sometimes when he is singing, the lip syncing is a bit out.”
“Maybe some special effects in the lip syncing parts.”

Audience feedback: First cut

This is the first cut of my music video.

Changes which I am going go make after receiving audience feedback are:

I am going to re-shoot the performance shots, using a different location and different outfits. This is so that I then have more performance footage to play around with. I will then be able to break up the existing performance sections into shorter clips and use fast-paced editing during these sections that will suit the tempo of the song.

I am going to use some very short clips and jump cuts at the start of the music video. This will be done using the section of footage of the taxi. These jump cuts will coincide with the reoccurring, distinctive beat that appears in the song.

Photoshop process for production stills

During the filming of my music video I took a series of production stills for the ancillary tasks. I used Photoshop to edit the photos. All of the photos were taken against a plain brick wall. In Photoshop I made the brick wall black and white in all of the photos and I left the subjects in colour in the foreground. This is an example of what each photo will look like:

Before:

After:

Audience feedback: Digipak photos

The key photo for my digipak is the one which will feature on the front cover. Another key photo is the one which will be used for the main picture of the poster inside the digipak.
I showed my target audience a selection of the production stills which I'd taken (un-edited versions only). I asked them to pick which photo they thought would be best for the front cover of the album and which one they liked best for the main photo of the poster.
This has helped me to choose the photos which I will be using for these purposes. From their reactions, I am also able to see which photos they liked the best so that I can use these photos for other parts of the digipak. My target audience said that they wanted to see something that was fun and different to what you'd usually see on a digipak.

Audience feedback: Alternative endings

During filming, I decided to film 2 different endings to the music video. They are both of the same line and contain very similar action.
NB. The track hasn't been added to this video.

After putting both endings onto the film and showing them to my target audience, it was decided that the first ending would be the one that I'd use for the music video.
Some of the reasons why my target audience chose to use this clip were:

They really liked the silhouette ending.

This clip had a better finish to it.

It was sweet and romantic.

It had a nice composition to it.

This clip was different from all the others and you can clearly tell that it's the end of the video.

Audio track issues

When it came to putting the audio track into Final Cut Express, I found that the track appeared to be really bad quality. The track was of good quality and even played properly in Final Cut Express until it was put with the clips that I'd already edited.
The track that I added was an .mp3 file so I tried converting it. Apple's own website gave two ways of doing this, either in Quicktime or in iTunes. I found that neither of these methods worked at school or at home. Because of this I then tried burning the track onto a disc as a .wma file. I then put the disc into the Mac and imported it to iTunes. When I then put this file into Final Cut Express, it went in as a .aif file. This has solved the problem and the track is now working properly in Final Cut Express.

Digipak idea

This is my idea for my digipak. This digipak will be presented in a clear jewel case and would be printed on glossy paper.

This is the front cover.

The booklet will open up to show the director's thankyou.

This will open up further to show the lyrics of the title song.

The back of the booklet will be a selection of production photos. These are 2 separate ideas for this page.

The whole booklet will open up to show a large poster containing lots of the production photos.

This is the disc inlay and the disc.

This is the back of the album which will show the track list. These are 3 separate ideas for the layout.

Web page idea

This is the template which I will be using to create my web page.

1 The background picture will be a photo of the artist
2 Artist's name
3 The boxes will be transparent hot pink
4 The music video will be at the top of the page
5 This will show the album (using my digipak)
6 Tour dates
7 A music player which plays the whole album
8 The production stills will appear at the bottom of the page