Green room VS Theatre

I am undecided as to the final location of my music video from time pressures of completing my coursework. It has been difficult to plan and allocate filming periods as I have had a lot more work for other subjects than expected. I originally planned to film the background performance content using the green room however my practice shot made me realise how time consuming this is. I seriously don't know if I have the time to perfect the shot and make the green background completely disappear. It would be easier to film in the theatre as use a projection of clouds instead as this does not involve much time in the editing process. But the quality of the music video will not be as good as the green room filming (if completed on time). The projection light would be very visible as the movement of the clouds would appear on the models face. 

I have come to the decision that although may prove very time consuming, I am going to film in the green room. The colleges media technician and teachers will be around the department during my filming therefore easily accessible if i encounter any problems or need help. I will simply have to make sure I complete the editing for my music video and stay extra hours at college if needs be. 

Overview of Filming Content

Hand Drawn Drafts for Digipak

Star Effect Process for Digipak

 I have experimented using a sparkle effect in the corner of the back page for my digipak, if it proves successful I might introduce this feature continuously throughout my album. This unique element ensures the audience can understand the pop and contemporary aspect of the genre, not just country. I did not have any idea on how to create this effect so researched the process on Google and found the following website: 

 http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/sparkle/ 

 

I have taken print screen shots from the process of experimenting this technique. When following through with the process I was unsure as to the outcome therefore couldn't predict the most suitable size or opacity of the brush stroke for my image. If I use this technique it will have a much improved quality finish from my practice run.

First of all I had click several areas on a plain white page where I wanted to position the stars using the different advised brush strokes to use by the website. This involved the stroke numbers 70, 17 and 50 however there was many other star featured options to choose from. 

The second stage involved saving the star brush I had created as "sparkle" allowing me to recover the created format when opening image. 

Then I had to change all of the formats of the brush stroke that the website advised me, this included shape dynamics, scattering, size jitter and spacing. This was the challenging part of the task as it was difficult to locate the different options I needed to change. 

Finally I was able to actually use the brush tool and place the stars on my image where i felt they was most suitable. At this point I felt the stars appeared quite bland and more emphasis needed to be placed on them to make them appear sparkly. 

The website then instructed me to use the Gaussian blur tool, which I am already familiar with from softening the appearance of models during my AS foundation course. I changed the radius to 7.0 pixels instead of 5.0 as it made the stars stand out more. 

Finally I used layer style, outer glow to give the sparkles a glowing effect to further emphasise their appearance on the page. I chose the position of these stars to follow over the models boots so the white stands out against the brown boots. 

THE OVERALL IMAGE AFTER INCORPORATING THE STARS ONTO THE PAGE

Template for Digipak

	4 Panel DigiPak
	4 Panel DigiPak with slot pocket (Suitable for booklet of 4 pages or more)
	4 Panel DigiPak with Pocket (Suitable for booklet of only 4 pages)
	6 Panel DigiPak CD placed right panel
	6 Panel DigiPak CD placed centre panel
	6 Panel DigiPak, 2 CDs
	8 Panel DigiPak
	Maltese Cross DigiPak

I am considering using the "8 Panel Digipak" as it offers more space to include further detail of the artist and promotions. I might include small booklet inside the digipak which will provide further information for fans about the stages of creating her debut album. 

Photoshoot for Ancillary Texts

 

The weather conditions during this photoshoot where not ideal which did have an effect on the appearence of the model as it was hard for her to keep in character. This is just part of the photoshoot I intend to complete and ideally will feature the back cover of the digipak and perhaps part of the included booklet to adding more information for the audience. I will however continue the shots in the haybails throughout my digipak.

 

This close up shot is slightly low angle which I did not intend. During my next photoshoot I will take closer shots, perhaps an extreme close up of her eyes making direct eye contact with the audience.

This medium shot appears slightly too staged. Her body frame is quite rigid which is understandable due to the cold weather.

Again another attempt at a close up shot. This photograph is slightly blurry therefore not useful for my digipak.

This photograph allows quite alot of space at the top of the image which could be useful when using Photoshop to include text titles ect.

I quite like this medium shot as the model is again making direct eye contact with the audience. Also this high angle shot makes the model seem quite vunerable and weak which compliments the nature of the model in the music video.

The models facial expressions on this medium/long shot are not exactly what I was going for. Her eyes are too sqinted.

Filming Disaster!

Over half term I rented out the camera to hopefully complete my filming so i had lots of time i concentrate on editing! However simple mistakes where made by myself regarding using the techniqual equipment itself. I couldnt charge up the camera because i was without the correct lead.

The main purpose of this stage 5 filming was to complete all the performance aspects of filming for my music video so at least I had filming content to use incase I diddnt have another opportunity to film. I had the female model wear a completely new and different outfit for this performance area, meaning when viewing the music video the audience can distinguish the different sections and their purpose. I am greatly considering using a projected cloud appearence in a theatre location to ensure i complete this filming, therefore I will not have to rely on good weather conditions also. But this will need to be taken into further consideration as it may not follow the natural tone of the music video I originally wanted to follow.

Unexpected Circumstance

As I was preparing the costume and equipment for the filming to be shortly taken place I noticed it had started to snow outside. This was completely unexpected and not forcast by the weather agency. I decided to continue preparing for filming and still travelled to the location. However as the farm is on high ground snow had began to settle on the fields.

This immediately meant I couldnt film any of the field locations I had planned. Thankfully the barn location was in fine condition to shoot which gave me some shots film.

This is a major setback in this stage of my coursework as I was hoping to completely finish filming within the following week. But this will no longer happen now. Also because of the weather I was unable to do my Photo Shoot meaning I have no images to work with for my ancillary production.

Plan for Photo Shoot - Ancillary texts

I am going to time in my Photo shoot with section 4 of my filming as I will already be filming "the break up scene" so the artists will already be in the appropriate costume. I intend to include shots of both the male and female model in some of the photographs focusing on the break up and heartbreak the female model will be feeling. However this is not my main focus point. Most of the photographs will be of my female model in different staged positions to exaggurate the pain and loss she is feeling from her love leaving her. I have drawn up rough photographs indicating the different poses I want the models to follow during the Photo shoot. Obviously slight changes might be made on the day depending on how well certain images appear but a basic plan of intended shots is always useful. Another reason for planning the Photo Shoot is because I have quite a limited time frame to complete the filming never mind the photography section so hopefully this planning will save time on the day.