Wednesday, 7 May 2014
There are different types of digipacks, each with there own different aspects and include different medias in order to meet their audience. In this research, I will be analysing the differences between the different types of digipacks and also use a few examples to understand more thoroughly the codes and conventions within this print product. There is a basic four page digipack which includes one CD tray and one fold out cover. Examples of this format would be digipacks such as Metalica's Death Magnetic album. This type of digipack is the most simplistic yet most popular form for a digipack as it contains all the relevant information that the artist/record label may want to include but at a lower cost to more complex digipack designs.
The six page digipack cover gives more room for more information by adding another fold out cover in the dvd cases design. This is common for digipacks containing two disks as they can be placed on separate pages for ease of use. An example of this would be Coldplay's Greatest Hits digipack.
The cost of digipack production costs more money depending on how many pages/surfaces you have on it. Thus making small digipacks with separate booklets more common in shops than larger digipacks with information printed on the page surfaces.The first draft in which our group had pitched to our target audience was that of our chosen band preforming their song with certain special effects added to the video to make it stand out.
Donal O'neil an eighteen year old who enjoys rock, metal and punk music was asked by our group for an interview about our initial ideas.
What was your first impression of our ideas?
At a first glance of the storyboards I was very intrigued to find out more and hear more about the special effects and how everything would work.
Do you think this music video would fit into the punk-pop mould easily?
I think that the ideas that have been put forward would easily fit into the moukld and would not look out of place whatsoever on a music channel such as a "kerrang" or anything other music such as that.
Can you think of any changes which we should make?
As i do enjoy the ideas of the video so far i think that the video may become rather repetitive and boring. As yous have mentioned the idea of having something along side the bands performance i would recommend a story line which can link the lyrics of the song to the music video. Something that is personal to this song and maybe anything that the band puts forward.
Donal O'neil an eighteen year old who enjoys rock, metal and punk music was asked by our group for an interview about our initial ideas.
What was your first impression of our ideas?
At a first glance of the storyboards I was very intrigued to find out more and hear more about the special effects and how everything would work.
Do you think this music video would fit into the punk-pop mould easily?
I think that the ideas that have been put forward would easily fit into the moukld and would not look out of place whatsoever on a music channel such as a "kerrang" or anything other music such as that.
Can you think of any changes which we should make?
As i do enjoy the ideas of the video so far i think that the video may become rather repetitive and boring. As yous have mentioned the idea of having something along side the bands performance i would recommend a story line which can link the lyrics of the song to the music video. Something that is personal to this song and maybe anything that the band puts forward.
shooting schedule
The time frame in which we are hoping to have a large section of our filming on the 17th of February as the are in which we are hoping to use will be free for a large section of the day and we culd be able to get a large section of the filming all completed. However the lead singer and guitarist is not free on these dates and we will have to work at night with him this will be done after school as we go to different schools.
Timetable
We have to get the the stage ready for filming so we will work on that during free classes and media classes too.
Task list
- Clear stage of all desks, chairs, boards etc
- Have stage cleared of drama set
- Turn canvas backdrop and repaint it black
- Graffiti back drop with spray paints and band posters
- Paint band logo onto the canvas
- prepare green screen and stands in which to keep it upright and flat
- shoot from all angles and cut together and get all different shots in time with each other
Shot list
- wide shot
- long shot
- close up shot
- mid shot
Props list
- Green screen
- Drumset
- Bass guitar
- Guitar
- Mic and stand
Location list
- School stage
- outside locations; dark paths/large parties
Lighting needs
- Over head lighting
- Lighting on stands
Actor list
Band members;
- Danny Smart
- Daniel Busby
- Andrew Armstrong
- Unconfirmed female actor
Costume list
- DArk clothing
- skinny jeans
- shirts
- partying clothes/waster clothes
When we first thought of the idea of our media studies project we knew straight away that we would need to acquire green screens. After realising that to rent green screens in Northern Ireland was almost impossible and that we have to build our own green screens.
To build our green screens we first created a plan and blueprints of how to support the green screens. After we created these prints and ideas we got purchasing all the components to build our green screens.
After we bought the green screen material we bought the wood to stand up the green paper. After realising that the wooden poles alone couldn't keep the paper from creasing we set about getting other materials and wood to make a frame in which to hold the poles and green screens.
After we had drawn up plans for the complete frames we set about building our green screen frames. We did this in the technology workshops in school, we knew would need three completed frames with spare boards and poles in case we suffered any problems.
After we had built the poles to hold the green screens we needed to complete the frames. However we would be filming using the green screens in the school hall. So this in mind we knew would not be able to transport the completed frames around as they would be too large (2.75mx3m) and would need to be completed in the school hall.
After we had built all the frames to house the green screens we set about making the screens. The way in which we had to do this set each of the green screen frames down upon the ground, get the roll of green canvas paper we bought and staple each 3mX2.75m sheet onto the frame which housed it. This took several hours of careful work as we couldn't mess up one of the sheets as all the paper was vital and in high demand.
After the building three complete green screens it was all set up for filming purposes.
After we left the three screens in place, the next day we returned to check on them, it hasd been clear that the three green screens had been moved several times around the stage and had be ripped and torn.
We organised a photo shoot today with the members of the band, to provide us with some good images to use for the digipack. We done the photoshoot in a darkened run down classroom in Queens University Belfast, which one of the bands members fathers kindly gave us access to. The room has clearly not been used in a decade and there were newspapers in the room dating back to 1999. This vintage tone of the room added to the rock stars image of not caring about appearance and dress code, and the mess as a whole allowed us to take some interesting and great photos that we could use for our digipack. 
All in all we took close to 50 images, and we feel that photos such as the above will allow us to create a great digipack. Below is a photoshoot by the band Green Day, and I believe our pictures look just as 'punky' and well done as this.
All in all we took close to 50 images, and we feel that photos such as the above will allow us to create a great digipack. Below is a photoshoot by the band Green Day, and I believe our pictures look just as 'punky' and well done as this.
Whilst researching forms and conventions of rock bands websites, there were many common trends. Alike the digipacks, dark colours and images were a common theme. We feel we need to emulate this by making our website design consist mainly of dark colours and images, to successfully create a good rock bands website. 
On Linkin Parks website, there were the usual pages about tour dates, discography etc but also the dark theme and colours. Bands websites such as Green Day, My Chemical Romance and Nirvana all followed the same trend, they were quite similar websites with just different colours and themes, the content was mostly the same. However, we find them quite tedious and boring, so our plan will be to challenge codes and conventions of a typical rock bands website by making a more interesting website, as well as following the codes and conventions by using dark themes and colours.
On Linkin Parks website, there were the usual pages about tour dates, discography etc but also the dark theme and colours. Bands websites such as Green Day, My Chemical Romance and Nirvana all followed the same trend, they were quite similar websites with just different colours and themes, the content was mostly the same. However, we find them quite tedious and boring, so our plan will be to challenge codes and conventions of a typical rock bands website by making a more interesting website, as well as following the codes and conventions by using dark themes and colours.To provide ourselves with inspiration on how to develop the digipack we looked at the bands which are similar to The Empires, such as Green Day, Foo Fighters etc and noticed a common theme of rock bands didipacks is that they tend to involve a few pictures of the band, the bands logo, and dark colours.
We then decided that to fit the codes and conventions of a rock band we needed The Empires digipack to contain some dark images and colours, with the goal being to recognise that that the digipack is a rock album without being told. 
This My Chemical Romance digipack contains a dark sombre image that they have created themselves, and a picture of the band, so this has inspired us to do something similar, develop our own logo and use it as the front cover to the album. We will also need to organise a photoshoot with the band to provide us with some photos for the digipack.
We then decided that to fit the codes and conventions of a rock band we needed The Empires digipack to contain some dark images and colours, with the goal being to recognise that that the digipack is a rock album without being told. 
This My Chemical Romance digipack contains a dark sombre image that they have created themselves, and a picture of the band, so this has inspired us to do something similar, develop our own logo and use it as the front cover to the album. We will also need to organise a photoshoot with the band to provide us with some photos for the digipack.To make the idea of the green screen work correctly we needed to go through a complex procedure to ensure that they functioned effectively and efficiently. Firstly, following the construction of the green screens we needed to paint the background of a canvas backdrop in our filming location with black paint, and bearing in mind this was a 4×5 meter backdrop, this was a lengthy task. We then painted our own created ‘The Empires’ logo that we developed using Photoshop prior the the painting. We did this by adjusting the colour settings on Photoshop so that we could project a white outline onto the canvas using a digital projector, so that it was simply a matter of colouring in the white and yellow areas of the logo on the backdrop. Here is a photo from after we painted the logo on, including some photos where you can see us going through the process of painting the logo.
After the backdrop was painted it was then a process of standing the green screens in front of it, so that we could utilise them to our full advantage.
It is complicated to explain, but we needed to have three standing green screens, and having all three members of the band playing individually their song ‘Ambulance’ at normal speed, twice as fast, and twice as slow from three different camera angles.This was done so that in post production we could add the effect of the three members playing at different speeds, one playing in seemingly slow motion, one playing ridiculously fast, and one playing at normal speed. However, with the drummer we had him play without the green screens behind him. He played the song with the actual canvas backdrop behind him so that we could use the green screens to make it appear that the band are playing at the same place in the same time, but in different speeds.
It was difficult to make the band members play twice as fast, however they managed to cooperate excellently and the filming was a huge success. Playing at normal speed and twice as slow was not a problem, as we plugged a Macbook into surround sound speakers which blasted the song throughout the location, so that the band members could play in sync with the song. It was an exhausting 6 hour filming session however it was a success and all the green screen shots are excellent. As well as the green screen shots we got a variety of hand held and close up shots.
We had some difficulties involving the green screens which made the day prior to filming very stressful and straining. We had the green screens sitting up perfectly in the filming location, however when we arrived the next day they had collapsed, and this led to what was necessary to be a speedy reconstruction of all three green screens so that we could then begin filming on time. This shows our groups determination and how we strived to meet as close to perfection as we simply could, even if it meant extra development time we were still determined to do all that we possibly could.
Once the reconstruction was needed we simply had to fasten the green screen stands with stronger and thicker nails, so that if someone had tried to move them or anything again at least the stands would still be secure and so that the worst that could have happened is just the green screen itself needing replaced rather than the stands we built
After the backdrop was painted it was then a process of standing the green screens in front of it, so that we could utilise them to our full advantage.
It is complicated to explain, but we needed to have three standing green screens, and having all three members of the band playing individually their song ‘Ambulance’ at normal speed, twice as fast, and twice as slow from three different camera angles.This was done so that in post production we could add the effect of the three members playing at different speeds, one playing in seemingly slow motion, one playing ridiculously fast, and one playing at normal speed. However, with the drummer we had him play without the green screens behind him. He played the song with the actual canvas backdrop behind him so that we could use the green screens to make it appear that the band are playing at the same place in the same time, but in different speeds.
It was difficult to make the band members play twice as fast, however they managed to cooperate excellently and the filming was a huge success. Playing at normal speed and twice as slow was not a problem, as we plugged a Macbook into surround sound speakers which blasted the song throughout the location, so that the band members could play in sync with the song. It was an exhausting 6 hour filming session however it was a success and all the green screen shots are excellent. As well as the green screen shots we got a variety of hand held and close up shots.
We had some difficulties involving the green screens which made the day prior to filming very stressful and straining. We had the green screens sitting up perfectly in the filming location, however when we arrived the next day they had collapsed, and this led to what was necessary to be a speedy reconstruction of all three green screens so that we could then begin filming on time. This shows our groups determination and how we strived to meet as close to perfection as we simply could, even if it meant extra development time we were still determined to do all that we possibly could.
Once the reconstruction was needed we simply had to fasten the green screen stands with stronger and thicker nails, so that if someone had tried to move them or anything again at least the stands would still be secure and so that the worst that could have happened is just the green screen itself needing replaced rather than the stands we builtMonday, 5 May 2014
Thursday, 1 May 2014
One of the most common shots used in rock music videos. This is not only for heavy rock but punk, indie and alternative all these different styles of rock music use this common shot of the lead singer and guitarist either shouting or singing loudly into the camera.
Friday, 11 April 2014
Today we finished the last part of recording that needed to be done, the storyline section. Our 2 actors (Gavin Fitzpatrick and Orla Bradley) helped us out with a 4 hour recording session after school. The locations of the recordings were at one of our good friends Enda's house, a garage in Dunmurry and Black's Path. All 4 members of our group worked together at each stage of the recording to make sure we were taking the shot from the best possible angle. We also made sure we took a few shots at each time so we had a few to choose from. I did the camerawork today and always kept an eye on the shot as it was being taken, as well as directing the actors on what to do (the sound is going to be dubbed over anyway so it doesn't matter).
Thursday, 27 March 2014
We have edited most of out initial draft of the video and have presented this draft to some people who would be part of our target audience, this is the feedback that they have given us so far. The first draft did not have any effects added to the video, it was simply the green screen clips and narrative clips placed in the correct sequence with the sing played over the top. This was the groups feedback:
“Looking great so far. The band members moving at different speeds caused us to rewind and rewatch those parts over and over again, it was so smooth and so eye catching, we love it. The storyline and characters are great too and you can really notice the difference between these two in their attitudes from their clothing to their behaviour, i mean, the male is clearly the responsible one here, he dresses smart casual and is seen to be trying to keep the female character under control. We cant wait to see the final edit!”
So we appear to be appealing to our target audience so far. We will keep going in the direction we have intended to go in as our ideas seem to be working out correctly and hitting all the right points with our intended viewers.
Saturday, 15 March 2014
We have just finished filming the narrative shots for our music video. It took about 3 hours to film in its entirety and we got many different shots in different locations however only a select few will be used for the final video. We used the camera handheld to add some natural shake to the video footage to represent how unsteady the relationship between the two characters are and how unstable especially the female character can be. If necessary we can emphasise this once we get the clips to the post production phase.
Also an update on the green screen video clips. We have fully edited these clips and removed as many imperfections as possible. We have also implemented the idea for the double speed and half speed video band members and the results so far have been very promising.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
After messing around with some of the green screen clips we have been coming across some issues with lighting issues between the guitarist and the bassist. The guitarist clip appears to have ideal natural lighting and accurate skin tones within the video, however the bass player appears to have warmer colours in his entire clip, including the stage etc. However with Final Cut Pro X’s colour matching facility built into the editor, we were able to colour match the bassists clips alongside the guitarists clip to get a better colour match. We were then able to fine tune this colour match to get a more accurate colour tone throughout the clip. However what we will have to do is crop some of the video in order to remove some of the imperfections at the feet of the band members as they could not be fixed by the colour correction tools.
Also as mentioned in an earlier blog post, we have noticed a small amount of flicker caused by the difference in the lights operating at 60Hz and our camera filming at 120 frames per second, however this is not a major issue and does not affect the video.
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
So after a troublesome day with rebuilding the green screens yesterday after the disastrous destruction they suffered, we successfully filmed all of the band videos. We now have all of these video shots completed. Editing will begin on these parts to ensure accurate colour correction throughout the video clips and also that the green screen effect has worked successfully. Once we get these clips imported into Final Cut Pro X we will be able to mess around with the Chrome Key effects and see what we can get out of these video clips.
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
So, we arrived in the morning after completing our green screen build, to find this..
It became apparent that the green screens had been moved and accidentally torn during that process. All but one of the green screen were completely ripped and some frames were broken too. So we immediately worked hard over several hours and restored the green screens the best we could. They are slightly crumpled and crinkled from the damage but we don’t think that should be much of an issue for us when it comes to filming. Also starring in this shot is our backdrop which was painted by several A-Level Art students. This is the logo we created in Photoshop from the original black and white band logo.
Monday, 3 March 2014
So after building our green screens we decided it was time to paint our backdrop for the music video. The school kindly donated their large canvas sheet that they used for the school musical and allowed us to paint over it. They also kindly donated some paint materials and equipment from our art department as well as 3 of their pupils to assist us in painting the backdrop.
As seen in this image, this is the original painting on the backdrop:
We used the projector in the assembly hall to project the logo we designed onto the canvas and then painted over this in order to create a perfect recreation of the logo. We started off by painting the entire canvas sheet in black paint, but left small, almost seemingly accidental patches of the previous paint work coming through to enhance the grunge texture and appearance on the canvas. When this coating was dry, we painted over the projected image to add the tape and wings logo as well as the band name. Bands are so often seen performing either live or in music videos in front of a backdrop with the band name, logo or even album artwork. We wanted to follow this convention within our media product and this was the end result:
We are now well underway into the build of our green screen sets. We started by first of constructing the poles and their feet of each green screen. We got some square wooden poles from B&Q. These measured 2.72m x 0.05m x 0.05m. Because of their small surface area at each square end. We cut some triangular feet from MDF wood and screwed these into the wooden poles, ensuring a tight and secure fit.
After these parts were constructed, we had to move the pole and feet assemblies to the school assembly hall stage because the entire assembly would be too big to manoeuvre throughout the school building. We took the decision to finish the assembly of the green screens on the stage.
After these parts were constructed, we had to move the pole and feet assemblies to the school assembly hall stage because the entire assembly would be too big to manoeuvre throughout the school building. We took the decision to finish the assembly of the green screens on the stage.
This part involved constructing the MDF wooden boards to the top and bottom of the poles. The green screen paper would be attached to these parts providing more of a surface area for the paper to be attached to the frame which will create a stronger and therefore safe assembly. It also allows us to line the paper out as evenly and as straight and tight as possible to minimise creases on the surface which will allow our green screen to be more effective.
This photo shows the sheer scale of the build…and there’s 3 of these:
Once the boards were attached to the bottom and top of the frames, it was time to add the green screen paper. To do this, we started on one side, and lined up the green screen edge to be straight and parallel to the edge of the pole. We left a bit of over lap on this side to give us some extra room to work with and avoid leaving any fuzzy edges from the paper being cut. We then used a staple gun to attach the green screen paper to the wooden frame. We started along one side, ensuring after each staple the paper was still running parallel and even across the frame. We paid a lot of attention to this as it was critical to the success of these video parts.
Once the green screen paper was attached, the green screen panel was finished! We just had to repeat the entire process 2 more times… And these were the finished results!
Not too shabby, not too shabby at all.
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