Task 11/12: Photoshoot and Re-make of an Album

Panic! At The Disco Album Remake:


Original Album:

My Remake: 


How Did I Remake This Album?

• Firstly, I started by having a photoshoot of my friend. I had him pose similar to the pose of Brendon, then using the camera on my phone, I took a few photos. In the end, I ended up using this photo as my base:

• I took this photo and using the lasso tool on photoshop, I cut my friend out of the photo and and onto a blank background. I then went onto google images to try and find a high quality photo of a desert with buildings in the background. However, I could not find a background that was similar to the original album. Because of this, I had to create my own background. I used a image of a desert and a .PNG of some buildings in order to photoshop the buildings into the distance of the desert photo. To do this, I edited the buildings so they are small and semi-opaque. I then used the liquidfication tool too take the sharpness out of the corners of the buildings and to try and blend the base of the buildings with the floor of the desert. In the end I ended up with this photo:

• I then photoshopped my background with my base image in order to make it look like Kieran was in the background. I then added a few filters and effects in order to get the dull grey colour. 

• The hardest part of re-creating this album was the rainbow smoke that is seen coming from Brendon's cigarette. At first I struggled to re-create this as I tried to colour in a .png of smoke. However, I soon discovered that it would be easier to create a rainbow layer and merge it with the smoke.

• I used the lasso tool to cut out the smoke and then I proceeded to add a feather effect to the edges of the smoke so it looked more natural and smoke like, instead of a sharp cut. 

What Have I Learnt?

From this I have learnt a few new photoshop skills. I feel slightly more confident making my digipak as it will be my own work, I won't have to re-create anything. 

Task 10: 30 Cut Chorus

Justin Bieber 30 cut chorus:

What Went Well?

• Range of shots - There are many examples of different types of camera shots and angles, for example there are close ups, long shots and pans. These camera angles reflect my group's confidence with exploring new camera angles, whilst making our sequence more professional and varied. 
• Editing Techniques - While editing our footages, we had to make sure the cuts lined up with the beat of the music. In order to do this successfully, we created markings on each beat and cut our footage so it was able to fit with the beat. My group also tried to incorporate a few jump cuts into our sequence to further show our editing skills. As well as jump cuts, my group managed to successfully create match on action shots. Over all, this makes our sequence flow smoothly. 
• Continuity - While filming this sequence, one of our worries was lack of continuity as there were several shots where I would change my hand positioning and my bag kept falling off my shoulders. However, we managed to fix this during editing by selecting sets of footage that linked up, and had minimal continuity errors. 
• Team Work - During this task we all decided to have a certain task or part to play. For example,  we would rotate who would direct, who would film and who would edit the footage. Over all this shows that a joint effort from a team is extremely useful when creating small projects. 

What Didn't Go Well?

• Jump cuts - Despite the fact that we attempted to add some high class editing techniques into our sequence, the jump cuts look slightly rough and looks like huge gaps are missing from the footage. This makes the sequence less professional and stops the sequence from flowing smoothly. 
• Filming - During filming, we ran out of time to fully film our sequence in the time given. This was slightly irritating as it meant we had to wear the same outfit and make up/hair again the next day. We also had to wait until the weather was similar to the weather on the first day of filming as we wanted to keep continuity errors and a minimum. 
• Differentiation of shots: 

What Have I Learnt?

From this task I have learnt that during sequences of shot cuts, continuity is very important to the process. This is because the audience can pick out small details that have changed during the sequence. This then gives a negative impression as it makes it seem that the project was done lazily and the project was not properly directed or cared for. If I were to incorporate these techniques into my music video, I now know that extra care has to be done in editing to ensure that everything flows smoothly. 

Task 9: Lip Syncing Task

Learning comment:

I think that overall, our project went well. We worked well as a team and showed lots of variation and fun ideas in our clip. We took advantage of our surroundings and used lots of locations, as well and involving everyone in the clip. The lip syncing was done really well and was edited to the music correctly, making the overall quality much better. However, some clips are slightly delayed so you can see the person standing around before they start dancing. Also, we ran out of footage as we kept losing track of the song, meaning we had to edit in some old footage in order to fill some of the gaps. I believe this could have been avoided if we made a plan instead of spontaneously going out to film and randomly filming on the spot, which is time consuming and very hard to do.

Task 8: Audience Research & Music Consumption

Task 1: Music consumption.

I asked 4 friends; 2 female and 2 male about their music video opinions and preferences. Down below are their responses. 

Alice: Age 17, Female

                       

Michelle: 38, Female:

Darren: 46, Male:

Charlie: 17, Male:

Task 2: Theoretical Analysis.

Maroon 5: Animals
Maroon 5 Theory from Charlotte Bancroft on Vimeo.


Chris Brown: Questions

Task 3:

* In Progress*

Task 7: Music Video Analysis

Task 1:

Why I chose these videos:
Other that the videos being three different genres, I chose the videos I chose because they all have different elements. For example, Maroon 5 has lots of small details and mise en scene in oder to produce an effective storyline and narrative for the video. This makes the video so much more entertaining to watch as well as supporting a strong narrative. I also chose the Panic! song because it used a very uncommon and interesting camera shot. I haven't seen many POV camera angles so it was very interesting to analyse. Lastly, I chose a K-pop song, despite having no interest or liking towards the genre because K-pop is extremely well known for it's amazing editing techniques and small and strange details. By analysing all these videos, I am am able to make links between videos, for example, they all use close up or low shots to show power, and i am also able to see how different cultures effect the music video. For example, the Western videos I analysed were very story based and had a narrative surrounding low and murder. However, the K-pop song had lots of strange scenes that weren't 100% relatable to the lyrics, as well as putting more effort into editing techniques and in sync dance moves than it was story driven.

Video links:

       K-Pop: Monster                             Maroon 5: Animals                       Panic!: DTMWAGT
      

Task 2:
Task 7 from Charlotte Bancroft on Vimeo.

Task 3:

 



What Have I Learnt?

From this, I have learnt that visuals are very important in a music video. The visuals either tell a short narrative or are performance based and are there for entertainment. By creating a video, it is easier to picture the video/story while listening to the song. After analyzing many different types of music video elements, I think the narrative and performance based narrative may be one of the easiest to film, as well as being the most common type of music video.

Task 5: Branding Research

Maroon 5

Arctic Monkeys

What Have I Learnt?
Synergy is very important when it comes to creating a brand for a band. This is because the band must rely on others to promote them, create logos and set up events. It also can be argued that synergy will allow multiple ideas to be incorporated into the making of a brand, allowing a larger team to work of the brand, possibly making it bigger and better, as apposed to one person doing it all by themselves. However, most bands started by themselves, promoted themselves and created their brand themselves, suggesting that maybe synergy is only important when the band becomes popular and needs professional help.

Task 4: Analysis of Digipak Adverts

What Have I Learnt?
From this task, I have learnt that digipaks are advertised usually on small posters that are displayed either in magazines or in music shop windows, for example, HMV often display adverts for digipaks in the window of their store in order to advertise upcoming albums or the albums that they currently have in store. This is because these areas are often in the public eye and will get plenty of attention and plenty of advertisement.

Task 3: Analysis of Digipaks

Features of a digipak:

What Have I Learnt?
I have learnt that digipaks are very important when selling a album. A digipak must be eye catching but within the realm of the genre it belongs in, unless it is challenging the conventions of digipaks. A digital must also appeal to the demographic of the artist, an example being a heavy metal album will appeal to older audiences but will not try to appeal to children as the are not the main demographic.

Task 2: Music Video Research - Analysis of Music Websites

Click the picture below:

https://charlottebancroft2.wixsite.com/analysis

What Have I Learnt? 

From this task I have learnt that the most common conventions of music websites are information to do with tours, merch and any upcoming releases. This is because it is important that these music artists promote their work in order to become more popular. Websites also follow a theme that is linked to the artist or the music genre of the artist. This is so nobody gets confused when browsing the website and mistaking the genre.

Task 1: Music Video Research - History of Music Videos

*Please Allow Time For The TimeLine To Load



What Have I Learnt? 

From this I have learned that music truly has changed over time. Whether it was to suit a certain event in time, or because music itself was developing along with technology and different forms of music.