Digipak - the inside

I have also been working on the inside/ leaflet section of my digipak. I researched this section of the digipaks within my earlier posts and know therefore that it is important for the inside of the digipak to grab the audiences' attention and provide more information and insight into the artist/ album. Traditionally, many artists would include photographs which match the album cover for the inside leaflet and include the lyrics for their songs over the top, however as my track is purely a piano track I have needed to be more creative and find alternative information to include in my digipak.  

The below image is a screen shot of the editing process using Photoshop to create my first double page spread for my digipak. I decided to include a double page spread which includes the sheet music for the track of my music video, I thought that this could be an effective way of drawing in fans as there is the opportunity for the fan to play the track themselves, and it also conforms to the feature of digipak albums - to look creative and promote the artist/ build up a fan base.

I have used a photograph I took whilst on location and filming the music video to feature as the background for my page, to ensure that there is a sense of uniformity. I like the image as it fits with the theme of my album front and back cover of nature and light, I edited the image using the curves tool to really bring out the silhouettes of the leaves on the tree in the style of one of the artists who inspired the look of my album - Kodaline.

The final image shows the finished product of my first insert to my digipak. In order to achieve this, I layered copies of the sheet music to the track on my original photograph. I used various different features of Photoshop such as pasting the sheet music to a new document, resizing it manually to fit the size of the photograph and then dragging and dropping them into the same image. To create the finished effect I significantly reduced the opacity of the music so that whilst the notes are visible, so to is the image behind, I also used the text tool to write the artists' name and album title on the page, I used a different font that I felt reflected the nature of the image to add some variety to my digipak. Overall I am very pleased with this image, as I believe that it reflects the conventions of the digipak genre, whilst being slightly different to the traditional layering of lyrics.

Editing

The above video is a screen recording of my progress of the video within editing, this week I have been purely editing and working on weaving my narrative sequences in with the performance elements. The most challenging thing that I faced was syncing the track to the footage and I will discuss the details of this later in my post.

I experimented with the multi cam feature of Final Cut Pro but found that for my particular type of footage it was more effective for me to cut away from my main shot sequence by layering other shots over the top. I started by matching different shots to various parts of the track, as I had filmed my original footage with the track playing, therefore I was able to match this to my audio of the track. I have been using the colour match tool also to try and have some consistency light wise across both narrative and performance.

The above image shows my further progress, one key challenge that I have faced is matching the audio to my main footage, as when my artist played the piano when filming, certain parts of the track are slightly out of time which has proved difficult for me to edit and make look natural with the track over the top, therefore I have cut and re - placed my audio at certain points to try and match, however in places where I was unable to do this I have covered the transition with a portion of my narrative, I have found this to be an effective solution and feel that it now looks much better.

Going forward I have matched lots of my footage to the track, fitted the narrative in with the performance and have been focusing on cutting to the beat of the music. Despite being a piano track there is a consistent tempo/ beat or break in the music which makes it easier for me to identify where in the track i need to cut in a new shot. Over the weekend I will be filming more narrative, as I feel that this needs further development to convey my desired effect which is to emulate a love story over time but also, as i have seen in other music videos, to convey the realness of life.  

Digipak Progress - Back Cover

Within my lessons this week I have been working on the back cover for my digipak album. I have been working on two different images as I am torn between them, and have therefore created an entire back cover for both and will then compare them to get the right look for my digipack. In order to create an effective back cover I reviewed my post on digipaks and identified the different elements of them, what is necessary to make cover authentic, and what I most liked or disliked to ensure that my cover is finished to the most professional standard possible.  

The below image is one of the possibilities of my back cover for my C.D.  To achieve the colour of this image I experimented with the level and curves, I particularly liked this setting as I feel that it heightened the use of the colour and brings out the intricate silhouettes of the tree. I also used the text tool to create the script descending vertically down the side of the cover, I attempted to blend the colour of the writing with the colour of the sky to match my naturalistic theme. Equally, I have decided to have synergy between the front and back cover by using the same font of writing.What I didn't like about this was that I felt the image was slightly too large, and may be better suited as a result to a double page spread within the booklet.

As I continued to edit the image, I cropped the size of my photo to better match the look of an album cover, I do feel that it looks far better like this however I am still unsure. Having researched other back covers I knew that I needed a bar code, this was rather a lengthy process but the final look is far more professional. To get my bar code I copied and pasted an image of my original artists' back cover into photoshop, I then cropped this down to just the bar code and resized the bar code to match my image, having done this I was able to drag and drop the bar code into my back cover file and move it around until I found the correct position.    

Having repeated the bar code process for some other vital components of the cover, the last stage was for me to use the text tool to add the name of the tracks. For the titles of my songs I took inspiration from my artist, the theme of nature and of love so the tracks are a mixture of the original artists' songs 'Nightbook' to my made up names 'Changes'. For the text of my tracks I used the same formal style font and the same kinds of colours as the text at the side of the image. However, I had a real problem with ensuring my font was visible, and as can be seen from the image the font is barely visible, as the mixture of light and dark within the image meant that no natural hues and tones stood out - as a result of this and my hesitance at the relevance to my theme i have discounted this image and worked on a different final image.  

The above image is the alternative photo that I had for my back cover. I feel that this picturesque, natural, image and colour palette mirrors the front of the album, creating a greater sense of synergy and mirroring my front cover. The process for adding the the bar code was exactly the same, and I also have used the logo of a record company as is necessary to make my back cover credible. Having researched various companies thoroughly, I have chosen to use Decca Records as my record company. Decca Records is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, one of the big 3 and I feel that this smaller subsidiary best fits my artist and video as they are a slightly more niche/ instrumental part of the company whilst still being hugely successful popular, and accessible to a modern audience/ my younger target audience - producing artists such as country duo 'The Shires' and my original artist Ludovico Einaudi - http://decca.com/artists/.    

Another vital element to my cover which I discovered when researching is the small print that rests below the logo of the record company - the declarations. This writing provides vital information to the audience, it contains the year the C.D. is printed, references any co writers of the album, the record company information and a statement prohibiting illegal file sharing and copyrighting. The tool that I used to create this was the text tool, using a slightly less formal font and in the colour grey, as the covers I researched use a different colour to stand out, the writing is extremely small as it is  not supposed to feature prominently on my cover but is more of a formality which adds to the professional nature of the cover. My cover was almost finished at this stage, as I was able fortunately to drag and drop the bar code, Decca logo and small print from my previous discarded image. Therefore I was trying to get the balance of text and colour right of the track listing and side text for the spine of the C.D. - as can be seen from the image i was still struggling with the lightness of the image to make anything stand out.

The above image is my final copy of the back cover for my album which I am very pleased with. I was able to overcome my problems with colours by continuing to research other artists' album covers. What I did was to duplicate my layer and then create a rectangular shape within the tools of Photoshop, and fill this shape using the paint bucket. The next step for me was to reduce the opacity of the shape so that my text became clearer, whilst the image is still visible beneath that, I also decided to darken the colour of the text for my track listing which made it really stand out whilst still adhering to the colour palette of the image and still looking natural. Moreover, I used the text tool and same font, with a bright white font to ensure the spine of the C.D.  will stand out, detailing the name of the artist and album. Overall, I am pleased with my finished back cover and feel that it stays true to my themes, and will match the front cover and music video well.  

Extra Filming

Over the weekend I reviewed the notes from my previous post and filmed some additional shots for my music video. The filming I did was fairly minimal as I had planned to film my final home movie sequence, however I was unable to do this as my older actors were suddenly unavailable. I will as a result film this sequence later this week and have plenty of work on my digipack and editing of my current footage to be getting on with. 

I have filmed a bookcase at my actors home filled with pictures and memories, which is decorated with fairy lights - as well as being aesthetically pleasing the footage helps to further my narrative as it focuses on photographs of the couple when younger. The sequence is slightly low angle, wide shot which captures the flickering of the lights, before zooming in on one of the photographs.

The above image is the photograph that I zoomed in on and shows the couple about 20 years ago. I particularly liked this shot as the couple are clearly recognisable and in similar clothing to my modern day footage, moreover I feel that this will help with my narrative reflecting on the couples lives together and drawing a cross generational theme. I shot this sequence with a tripod and it has the flickering of the lights visible, lighting the picture. However, the footage has a slightly shaken effect, much like within hand held - whilst not ideal I feel that this gives a home filmed/ original/ authentic feel as if it could be a point of view shot from the couples' perspective.

The above image I have included from my timeline of filming to show the comparison of the couple, within the photograph and in a more modern setting. I will now review my footage and see where this new sequence fits, as my plan for building the narrative is not a solid storyline but rather segments and snapshots from the couples' life, as I have seen done within other artists' work such as Katy Perry's 'The One That Got Away' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahha3Cqe_fk 

Editing

Currently the editing process is ongoing and the below images are some snap shots of my work so far.  I have explained what effects/ transitions I have used in great detail in order to document this process.

The above image is a screen shot from my editing work on my video, within the programme Final Cut Pro X. I played around with various effects in Final Cut to create the opening sequence to my music video which is a time lapse. As storyboarded, I stayed out in the field that I filmed the music video in, at about 8 O'clock in the morning, filming sequences of about 20 minutes each. Having reviewed the footage, this was my favourite as it captured the movement of the clouds and transition of light effectively. The next step was to speed up my footage in order to create the time lapse, I did this originally on Imovie using the fast forward tool by 20% and transported the faster version to the computer with Final Cut Pro. Within Final Cut Pro I then edited the speed of the sequence further, adjusting using the fast forward or slow motion tool to create the best version. The only thing that I am disappointed about is a dark lense mark which can be seen throughout the sequence, I tried to eliminate this using Photoshop and editing frame by frame but this was taking far too long, therefore I will cover the mark with a title section. I am pleased with the accompanying sound track to the time lapse, as I wanted to imitate something that it seen within other music videos, whereby the track starts with naturalistic sounds (of birdsong in my case) before cutting to the song. 

The inspiration for this comes from music videos such as Bastille's 'Pompeii'
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F90Cw4l-8NY&list=PLzW1LVlKi6P3cOgjiLJb-4nztwSMFKbSW

Sia's 'Chandelier'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-TM
and Taylor Swift's 'I Knew You Were Trouble'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y
These are just a few examples of music videos which take between 10 -20 seconds  and 2 minutes to set the scene of the video and do not come straight in with the track, and are as a result a part of my inspiration as to having the time lapse at the start of my video.

The above image displays another technique and tool that I have been using within Final Cut when editing my video. I used layering to create this image, and played around with the opacity so that the old man's hands are just visible but my artist's hands are more prominent in the shot. What I like about this image/ sequence is the way that there is synergy conveyed as the cross generational theme and the fact that I am drawing a comparison between the old man and the artist is made very clear to the audience through the layering. However, I feel that this definitely needs more work, I am unhappy with the conflicting angles of the different key boards and feel that too much of the older man's key board is visible in relation to his hands, and that his hands cannot be seen as clearly as I would like, to truly emphasise that connection - drawing together the elements of narrative and performance within my music video.

This image is an example of one of the more transitional shots that I have filmed. I like the sequence and have included this and the sequence captured by the image below although I am unsure of whether they will stay in my finished music video. I liked this shot as I feel that it is quite soft, atmospheric, matching the song and the out of focus lights flickering looks quite effective. However, I am indecisive as to whether I will use this shot and those similar as the footage is a bit shaky and I don't want it to distract from the main features - the narrative and performance of the video.

I loved this sequence as I really like the silhouettes that are created by the sunset, and the interesting shapes which are indicative of nature. The natural themes evoked by this sequence link to the theme of my digipack which involves my artist and a natural backdrop, equally this natural theme of the leaf and tree imagery is used within some of the original artist Ludovico Einaudi's album covers and also popular band Kodaline. Once again my only concern with this shot is the relevance to my video and I will therefore decide whether to include this or not later on in the editing process.

Finally, the above image is taken from one of the sequences of my older actor playing the piano, I played around with this sequence on Final Cut Pro as something about the colour was not quite right. Using the colour balance tool within Final Cut I was able to counteract the yellowish hue that the footage had due to the natural daylight, I am very pleased with how this sequence now looks as it has a brighter, cleaner and more professional finish and will blend with the other colours of my video to allow a smooth transition between shots.

Reviewing My Progress

The above video is a compilation using the media source Quick time player, of the performance elements of my video. Overall I am pleased with the length and difference of shots of the performance section of my music video which I am currently editing. However, I shot the entirety of the track from two separate angles, only including one of those key angles at the moment, having looked at my footage, I believe that I may use the other key angle to enable me to use cross cutting and Multi Cam - a technique often used by artists in modern music videos - therefore this may help me to connect with my younger target audience as it is what is the 'norm' within a variety of performance videos of varied musical genres.

Whilst reviewing my footage and progress I have listed some general notes of improvement that I can make when doing my last bit of filming. My notes include some more varied, transitional shots to enforce my cross generational theme and ideas to make the narrative of my video more engaging for the audience. The narrative of my video is not heavily scripted as I intended to have some natural/ romantic shots of the elderly couple which I do feel that I have achieved. My narrative could be improved in certain areas, as although not a rigid story I have decided to encompass more 'snapshot' style sequences that I intend to weave in with the performance section, and to match the magical/ romantic feel of my track. Therefore, I have already filmed my elderly couple dancing in a decorated location with soft lighting, travelling by car (I am unsure of whether to use this), a scene of conflict or arguing, and a reconciliation as the elderly man is seen to play the piano (fitting with my artist playing the piano for the performance sequence) and then to begin to teach the elderly woman how to play. What I hope to film is a sequence involving old photographs or home movies of the couple to reinforce the cross generational theme and add to the storyline. Moreover, my review also involved considering whether transitional shots not directly linked to the story are used in music videos, as I filmed some short sequences of some fairy lights flickering, a candle and the sky at dusk which were effective shots but I am undecided as to whether they add anything to my video, or could potentially distract from my themes - therefore I will consider this when watching popular music videos.

Modern music video inspiration

The image to the left is taken from artist Avicii's  music video for the song Waiting For Love. I have researched several narrative music videos which use an older actor to see how they are put together. The video for Waiting For Love is unique, following an elderly man on his mobility scooter journeying to his wife. I liked this video given the bright use of colour, light and the
varied locations but felt that it was a bit too niche and spectacle.

The music video that I feel best represents the kind of look I am aiming for is Jamie Lawson's 'Wasn't Expecting That'. The song has been massively popular with over 8 million YouTube views and was rereleased under Ed Sheeran's management with a new music video in 2015, having been originally released in 2011. The song then reached the top 10 charts, peaking at number 6 in the UK. This has given me a sense of reassurance as this video is massively popular with teenagers/ young adults who are my main target audience - therefore I know that a video featuring an older couple, as well as my young actor/ artist are popular and will hopefully be well received. What I love about the video is the cross generational theme and transitions looking back on the elderly couple's life. The key difference between my video and this, is my storyline is not as deeply explored and it is not nearly as emotional as this video, but the exploration of relationships between young and old is something that I am hoping to achieve with my music video. Moreover, I do not want the narrative of my video to overwhelm it either and I am attempting to find a good balance between narrative and performance within the editing stage.

Editing

This past week I have been continuing to edit my music video. I have been focusing on moving my sequences around within the timeline, the order of events is important to get right as the below images are from my narrative sequence which I need to transition between the performance. I have found it difficult to decide where and for how long these sequences should be placed, and therefore will be working on this this week also, as I want to get a good balance of performance and narrative with the performance element being slightly more prominent.  

The above image was shot whilst driving up to London, it was handheld as I had not planned to film, however I may use the footage as a way of building up the narrative/ showing the life of the older couple. I liked this shot as I feel that it is framed well and works as a two shot, I also liked the mixture of colour from the London christmas lights/ traffic and the mixture of having the couple in focus and the view from the front window slightly out of focus.

The above image is my conflict scene, having researched narrative elements of videos, I found that they usually follow a certain formula which includes a scene of conflict to grab the audiences attention. I filmed my couple having a mock argument through an outside window to act as a literal scene of conflict, as it also fits with my storyline and sets up the next key sequence.

This scene was my conflict resolution, whereby after the argument the older woman is watching husband playing the piano and he then takes her hand and begins to teach her to play also. The resolution I have filmed I believe will be effective, as it ties in with the cross generational theme. The cuts and similar shots I have used between my young actor who is the main artist of the song, and the older man I believe does imply they are linked, and this will become more evident as I edit my video together.