Lasts night editing

Well last night, I stayed after school for another 2 and a half hours. These hours made me realise that we still did have a lot to do to make it as interesting as our last years commentary. I managed to nearly complete question 3 as I just needed to get a few more pictures from the Internet, and it gave me the opportunity to get roughly over a third edited in question 4. Staying behind last night was the right decision because, it gave Rachel and Roisin more time to edit their questions. Also, at lunch we were meant to be doing some more editing, however, the other year 13 group was in there so, unfortunately, again, we were unable to do anything.

However, I am extremely happily with the process made and very grateful that we have an extended deadline so we have a couple more extra days. I am also extremely happy that I have been able to get my teeth stuck in to editing process of our evaluation. I feel that if we can have spend a few extra more hours on the computer, we will be able to make an evaluation that we are all pleased off.

Webpage Finished

Here is the Webpage finally finished! (Just click on the link below)

http://www.wix.com/roisinryann/rrgj_reginaspektor

Wix

For me, creating a webpage using Wix was a very enjoyable task, despite it taking up a lot of time. I've worked really hard trying to perfect it and ensure the synergy of all aspects of our final product are apparent within the webpage and hope I have been successful. Just as Rachel with editing and Gemma and Jade on the Digipack, I feel we have all played to our strengths well!!

Wix is a great way of creating a flash website that's user friendly, easy to use and free! Because it is flash based, for me owning a mac and when Rachel and I were working on a Windows computer, it was extremely fast whilst editing.

Today's evaluation editing plan

So today, we arranged to do many hours of editing as we really are committed to making that deadline tomorrow. We planned that in the free and lunch time, we would spent the lesson editing and stay behind after school as well to try and get as much done as possible.

Well, at break time we went in room 101 to get loaded up and we found that it was already being used by the other year 13 group. We then had to have a word with them about what we are going to do. This is because, they have had the computer for the past two days, so we all felt that we needed some good quality time on there. Therefore, we spent second period and lunchtime editing. In these two time gaps we put in order and cut all our speaking parts so now that we just need to make it more interesting by using screen shots and show evidence of what we are talking about.

We have also arranged that tomorrow, the other year 13 group will be working on their evaluation during second period and we will be working on ours during lunch time.

The deadline is coming up very quickly and we are all feeling the pressure, which can be seen by our friends. Hopefully, with the computer sharing now in plan, it is looking better that we will meet the deadline. However, Rachel and Roisin still have some speeches to film and we are going to film all four of us for the beginning and the ending. We also need to upload some of our footage again as some cant be found.

With this check list still in our mind, I am staying after school tonight to try and get the missing footage uploaded again and to start putting in our evidence. I may start our menu for our disk too, however, I am not sure on that yet. Just in case we haven't uploaded to the disk yet by the end of tomorrows school day, Jade and myself have made ourselves free to get this finished off and make it something we are proud of and worth all the stress that came with it.

The final digipack

This is our final digipack is a view on the net. We worked very hard on this and we hope that you all like it.

Trouble that may effect the deadline

As it has been drilled into our heads several of times, that our deadline is this Thursday. With only a very short amount of time to do our evaluation, we created a plan of splitting the questions up to help us reach this deadline. However, no one in our group thought about the situation with the computer.

We are currently sharing a mac computer with another year 13 group who are also working towards the same, tight deadline. This means that both groups are fighting for the same computer. Over the past couple of days, Jade and myself have planned to go and get a head start on editing, however, the computer has been in use. This means that we are going to need some sort of system so that both us and the other media group, get the same amount of time use for the computer, as this is the only way we can all have a chance of finishing for the deadline.

To help us near completion, we are all giving up some of our free time and I, along with others if they don't mind, maybe staying late after school on Wednesday so we wont have to rush the editing during the lunch hour.

Evaluation editing

So today's lesson, we uploaded mine and Jades questions, the audience feedback and what Rachel and Roisin had filmed so far. This took all lesson so unfortunately not much editing got done. However, I did find out that as we filmed all the questions without stopping the camera recording so it all came out in one clip, it wont actually take that long to find the parts we need and edit out what we don't need. This is very good news as we were worried that it would take a long time. But with little time to achieve a full evaluation, it is nice to hear, that finding the extracts that are needed, will be easier than expected.

News about the digipack

This is an email from Quadraproof explaining that they made an mistake saying that they could print our digipack as they didn't realise completely how big it was. They then went on to explain that to print this size, it will cost around £60. After discussing this with Roisin and Rachel (as unfortunately we were missing Jade today due to a art trip), we decided that we were not willing to pay that much. To see if we can get a printed, we are going to see if the art department can print it in A3 for us.

Planning Parts 1 and 2 of our Evaluation

So, Roisin and I are in charge of parts 1 and 2 of the evaluation, which are:

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

We have decided to plan and script most of the answers to the sub-questions that we have. We also made a storyboard of how our section of the evaluation will look, so all we need to do now pretty much is actually film it and then add all the effects and stuff and basically make it look great! So below are the roughly drawn up scripts that Roisin and I will be using to film tomorrow, as well as the storyboards that we drew up last week.

Digipack

Here are some pack shots of our digipack. This isn't the final digipack, just the first draft, as it is a miniature version of what will hopefully be a really cool CD case in the end! However, what we have here is enough for the mark scheme, but it will be nice to have a finished, proper version for ourselves!
We all agree that it looks really good, the pictures are really effective and it looks really professional!

Starting our Evaluation

After planning and briefly scripting the answers to questions 3 and 4 on Friday, Gemma and I decided to set about filming the sections of the evaluation we appear in. Differing from last year, the group has chosen to 'split' the evaluation in half as such. This is because we have a much shorter timescale than before, and deligating particular sections will help us condense ideas and take on multiple roles, eg, we are able to have one part of the group capturing footage whilst the others upload or edit.
Also changing from last year is our use of scripting. Both Gemma and I decided to opt for a looser script with more improvisation as we think this will look less artificial and more natural on screen. This was a risky move (considering our track record of delievering lines to a camera!) but amazingly, we managed to cover all of our filming requirements in the first lesson meaning we are bang on schedual.
Once Roisin and Rachel have shot all of their footage too, we plan to sit together as a collective and pool all of our energy into editing it together; we have all of the materials to hand on the imacs so it simply is the construction that is going to be the most time consuming.

Some very good news

Today we received some very good news. Quandraproof, the digipack company in which Ceri suggested to us, answered the email which I sent to them yesterday and said that they will happily print us off a copy and only for a small fee.

This pleased us all as we were very worried that if we were able to get it printed, it would cost too much. With printing with this company, they did say that they couldn't print it on photo paper as when folding it up? It wouldn't work. Therefore, they said that they would kindly print it off on card for us and even print off a couple extra copies just in case there becomes problems while folding, however, they did mention that we will have to fold it ourselves.

However, we are all extremely pleased with the offer we have been made and we are very excited to see the final product.

Evaluation

After splitting the questions between us, it meant we have more of a chance to finish everything buy the deadline. The questions Jade and myself had to concentrate on were:

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Me and Jade, took a similar but different strategies to Rachel and Roisin. Similar to them, during one study, Jade and myself wrote down bullet points in which we really wanted to mention. However, we didn’t right a speech on what to exactly say. This is because we felt that we could come up with a better speech on the spot than planning it in advance. Also, this meant that we could definitely be able to film on Monday and be ready to edit as soon as possible. Here are pictures of the plans we made for each question;

Printing the digipack

Today, we finished our digipack which we are all very proud of. To fulfil what we have to so in the specification, what we have achieved so far, is fine. However, after spending so much time concentrating on it, we all agreed that, to feel fully satisfied with it, we are going to print it out. However, using the schools equipment, we can only print it onto a A4 piece of paper. Even though, this size, the digipack comes out very cute, we could quite like to print it out to actual size.

To print it out to actual size, we need to go to a professional. After phoning many different numbers, we got different quotes, ranging from £21 to £50. Luckily Ceri knows someone who maybe able to print it out for us so I am sending them a copy of the digipack and they contact me with prices and whether they will be able to do it or not. So fingers cross that it all goes to plan.

Our digipack...

Working today first period and lunchtime solely on our digipack, it is now taking shape. And, even if I do say myself, I feel that it is looking impressive and convincing as a digipack. Here are some of pictures and a step by step of what we looked like.

Firstly is the winter season:



On this picture, around Amy, there was a pink blanket. We then took colours from the grass, placed on top of the blanket and blurred it into the grass. This then makes Amy stand out more and makes the blanket disappear.

We then went across making a lyrics page. For this we took a photo that we all loved but we had to make sure that Amy was too one side so there will be room for all the lyrics. We then wrote up all the lyrics. An issue with with the front cover was the idea that the black writing was too heavy. We needed to then address this issue with the lyrics, but we couldn't use the colours grey or white. However, looking with the writing black, it doesn't look too heavy because it pulls out her tights.






We first drafted our front cover using this photo, however, we have now gone for more of a conventional front cover. We are now using this as our back cover. We have added in a bar code on to make it seem more realistic as this means it can brought in a shop. We then wrote our website on as this makes the clear link between the digipack and the website. We then wrote the small information in the bottom of the corner about the production company and every ones name that was involved in the making of the music video, the digipack and the website.

The thank you page in a digipack is very very common so we knew we would have to include on. We took the first picture below of Amy sitting on the stairs, cut the side off but in cutting it the shape of the stairs, and finally blurring it into the black to the side. We then started writing the thank you note. Deciding what to write wasn't hard as the three main topics in which artists write about are their family, their companies who signed them/help them and then they thank their fans, so this is what we decided to write in ours. Finally, to put the finishing touch on, we added a few butterflies as this has become a common aspect in our digipack and website.

Putting these photos all together and many more on to our multi-cross digipack, this is what we came up with:

As you can see, it is not completely finished, however, the major aspects are complete and it shouldn't now take more the another lesson or lunch time to finish it. This will then mean, it is one more product that we wont have to think about anymore.

The Front Cover...

From Gemma's research it is clear to see that an image presenting a close-up/extreme close-up of the artist is VERY conventional of a female performer and this got us considering our cover. Seriously reviewing our draft (the image of Amy perched on the stone wall, surrounded by fog saturated fields), we also identified that the components looked somewhat lost in the image and didn't quite gel together how we had planned. It is a beautiful photograph which we think will better frame the 'admin information' (barcode, record label, copyright etc) needed to achieve a realistic and viable finish in a more visually pleasing manner. Therefore, we intend to shift this image to the back page of our digipak and replace it with a still from the music video itself. Throughout the process of construction each of us had swooned and gushed at how much we loved this particular frame (depicting a close-up of Amy resting her head against a tree - Autumn section) but it had never occured to us to actually use it in our digipak! This in turn strengthens the link between the two products as the viewer is able to identify and recognise certain reacurring images.

The Maltese Cross

http://www.discwizards.com/templates/digiPakMalteseCross-DW.pdf

Today we decided to opt for the Maltese Cross template for our digipak (the link to which is above).
We feel that this layout will present our photographs in the most asthetically pleasing way; looking compact and contained rather than spaced out and loose. The way in which the digipak will open and close also captured our interest as it mimics the unique and individualist streak in both our artist and target audience; setting us apart from the rest of the market.
Additionally, the shape and movement of the piece could be likened to that of a flower, again realting to femininity and the unusual.
We have also narrowed our choices of photographs down and planned where each image and section of text will go on the pages; therefore the elements of decision-making needed tomorrow will be minimal - it is merely a case of 'cutting-and-sticking' into shape.
We have made a conscious effort to leave the photographs as untouched as possible, as we want the natural elements to shine through rather than be smothered with artificial effects.
Any post-production has been kept soft and relatively light. We chose the font type specifically to keep the overall image fresh, clean and simple, therefore preserving the natural theme.
I also decided to experiment with layering butterflies in an applique style onto some images that needed a 'boost'. I think this has worked extremely well (much better than I imagined!). As well as giving the pages of our digipak a textural depth, they have also adopted a quirky, organic atmosphere which parallels with our target audience/artist beautifully.

The front cover for our digipack

Here is a draft of the front cover for digipack:

After getting some audience feedback, they commented on our daft. They came up with a few comments which were really fair. The main comment was the fact that 'Us' doesn't stand out and looks more like a album cover. This is a good comment because, when deciding what to do with the cover, Jade and myself both said that the title needed to stand out more, however, were worried it would look odd. After doing some research into female artists signal covers, it turns out that many do use different fonts.

As you can see, with the exception of Cheryl Cole's cover, they all have different fonts. This means that, as a group, we will talk about what to do with this.

The next stage of making this front cover was the font we were going to use. We tried out many different fonts to show a variety. However, the font used at the moment is a draft because now, looking back at it, the font is very heavy while the picture of Amy and the butterflies are very light. To solve this, we are either going to change the font to make it look lighter or change the font colour or change where the butterflies are to even the cover out.

The butterflies are now a symbol that we are going to use throughout the digipack and the website. These butterflies came about as when we were filming in the house for the inside scenes, they had butterflies on display and we took a photo of them. After we photoshop them out, we added them on to our photo. This is how they first looked and after we cut them out.

The photo used was a big decision. We liked this photo it is a naturally beautiful picture, whereas many other photos would need work doing to it and may look plastic. This is not the look we wanted because we are aiming our music video to an audience to show that simple things are more beautiful than plastic aspects. However, looking more closely at the single photo covers above, most of them are more of a close up than a long shot. Deciding whether to follow the close up conventions or break this trend, we are now voting which photo to use.

The Digipak...Construction

As we near the deadline, our ancillary texts are well on their way to being finished.
This week, Gemma and I shortlisted a collection of photographs which will be used in our digipak and website (to keep both visually in-sync with each other). They represent each of the main components/locations we used (spring, summer, autumn, winter, 'inside') and so futher highlight this theme of change in the music video itself.
The bulk of the post-production work on the professional shots has now been completed and we are ready to begin layering text (lyrics, 'admin' information, personal message from Regina, credits etc) and start slotting them into place.
Tonight I plan to sketch out a variety of possibilities in order to give the group more material so we can make an informed decision about which digipak would best convey our theme, artist and target audience (having a clear plan will also make the final construction stage much less daunting as it reduces the risk of becoming 'lost' in the computer screen!).
For the structure of the digipak itself, we have decided to focus on two main contenders; The 4 panel template and the Maltese Cross template. Both would accomodate our selection of photographs and amount of text we wish to use, so the final decision will be made along the lines of asthetic quality and audience preference.

The Webpage so far...

Here are some screenshots of the webpage so far. I was going to publish it and then post a link, but I wasn't sure if we could edit after that, so I thought it was safest to just do it this way, as Roisin and the rest of the group haven't seen this yet. Also, as you can see, the video we have used on the webpage is in fact, the original video, which we don't want to use!
Anyway, just thought I would keep everyone updated with how its all going! Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

Monday's lesson

Unfortunately, I haven't be able to attend today's lesson due to being ill. But i though i would quickly just inform you about what happened in Monday's lesson. Rachel and Roisin went to work on the web page and Jade and myself carried on with the digipack.

Using photoshop is a very long process which can easily frustrate you. However, even small changes can make a big difference. We proceeded with creating the front cover today. At the end of the lesson, we showed the others and they said they liked it but Jade and myself think they were just being polite. We will sit down and talk about it as, even though we are concentrating on different aspects of the coursework now, we are still a team and we all need to like everything and, we all need to make changes to make sure that all 4 of us are completely happy with the final product.What has been accomplished so far are drafts and nothing is set in stone yet, until we are all happy with it.

I am looking forward to see what the web page looks like so far.