New Logo

I have slightly altered my artist's logo. In this design, the many changes are that the solid grey colour fills in the shapes, the edges are now curved and the two shapes are separated from each other. I prefer this logo much more because it looks much more finished and like time has gone into producing it. Additionally, this logo makes an effect that I want to include easier to make. I have started to think about putting this as the focal point on the front cover as this sometimes happens on digipaks. I also want to try and put an effect on this; A paper cut out effect which looks like the logo will have been cut out and I will try out this effect in due course.

Digipak Development

After looking at applying a super 8 greenscreen to our performance footage, I have started to think about introducing this sort of effect into my digipak. This includes taking the colour out of images rather than putting them in black and white and also requires me to take close-ups of my actor with a solid white background. If I take more images in the studio, I will also be able to incorporate a double exposure effect using the many images of the Severn bridge during filming visits. It will also be easier to promote my brand as the logo will be able to be introduced much more. Below are some ideas that demonstrate the older and washed out feeling that I have just explained...

Editing Saturday's Images

Album Title Text

Here, I have tried some text effects that will make the album title stand out on the digipak tasks. Of the three effects that I tried, the last one where it looks as if the text has been sliced in half was my favourite because it looks good and would also suit the genre. The effect was created by separating the text into two individual layers which allowed me to offset one of them to create this visual. Because of the ease and final outcome of this effect, this is likely to be the one that features on my digipak.

Digipak Layout

Filming Diary

Yesterday, we went out filming to add more performance footage to our video. We decided to go a urban looking location to lip sync a large majority of the song. We also went to a lit up subway for digipak images and some short clips. These will be placed in between other narrative sections to keep the video engaging and interesting. The videos and images came out very well, however we had to use iPhones instead of the Canon DSLR as the lighting affected this camera greatly. Below was the predicted weather for the day although this wasnt the case in reality.

More Digipak Images

During our extra filming session today, we took the opportunity to capture some digipak images as the ones that we obtained at our narrative location were quite similar and didn't really show high levels of photography. Today, I tried out some different technique to make my digipak tasks more engaging for the audience. As the day was overcast and the lighting was dark we effectively used the lights on my car and street lights. Even though most of the images are quite dark, they can be easily altered in photoshop and there is a chance here to introduce lens flairs and emphasis on the light. However, I need to keep in mind that my artist is the most important part of the digipak and will need to do so during the editing stage. Overall, I am happy with these images as they are original and can easily be incorporated into my designs.

Please click on the images below for easier viewing

Theme Development

Theme For Digipak

I have started to think about the theme of my digipak as this is a crucial part of the artists brand and will dictate what goes on each panel. I want a theme because if one panel was in black and white and another in colour, it would mislead the audience and simply not look professional. Here are the stages I went through to deciding my theme using the picture below to work on...

I started to look at a glitch effect looking at youtube tutorials and I decided to put them into practice to see if it would fit the genre and if it actually looked any good. I started by putting the image in black and white as the introduction of this was a certainty. Then I started to distort the image as shown in the screenshots below. Here, I pressed the randomize button to find a distort that looked the best.

I then decided that the glitch effect was too 'out there' and I changed the theme to a fuzzy effect that put different coloured silhouettes of the image in the background. Even though the image below took a while to make and looks fairly good, the blurriness of the image is an issue because the artists face should be the focal point of the image. Consequently, I had to alter my idea again to accommodate this issue which I did below.

I then decided to use a 3D effect after coming across a video on YouTube. This image was created by copying the original black and white layer two more times and putting one in cyan and one in red. Then I moved one copied layer to the left and one to the right which created a nice effect and one that I will now use as my overall theme. This technique was simple to create and I now know how to apply this to any image. There are also possible advancements that I can apply to this technique to improve it further. First, I can introduce cyan and red coloured lines that almost imply a glitch effect but just not as substantial as before. Also, I can still cut up the layer into sections and slightly move each one to introduce the distort technique. This theme is one that I am happy with and it allows me to incorporate previous ideas into it which could look good.

Now that my theme is decided, I can now focus on capturing my two final images that should be done over the weekend and start to play with the theme and try to advance it further. This post and progression has helped me significantly because I now have a solid idea of how my digipak is going to start to be pieced together with the foundations of the theme.

Super 8 Theme For Performance Footage

After being told that we should introduce a super 8 effect into our performance footage, we started to look at possible green screens on the internet. The video above is the one that we have decided to use and position over all of our performance cuts and we chose this because it wasnt too intense and the movements on the screen were smooth. The screenshots below help show what the effect looks like. As well as putting this effect in, we also looked at possible video alterations on Imovie where we discovered that you can alter the shots appearance. For example, there is a black and white effect and a vintage effect. These effects will help to enhance the 80's feel of the video as well as the grainy effect in the video above.

Editing (4th Dec)

first min development from Tom Cornock on Vimeo.

On Monday, we focused on introducing more of our narrative footage, particularly the clips of the car and the other actor as we tried to build tension. We introduced all the footage of the car to the end of the timeline and shortened it there so that it would be easy to put into our current footage. This was a good method. During this lesson, we focused explicitly on trying to make the cuts on the beat and this went well. We then decided to watch the whole video back with two people in our class and our teacher. During this viewing, I and others noticed that our editing in the earlier stages of the video was not up to standard. The shots appeared randomly, there were some continuity issues and the cuts weren't happening on the beat that was quite noticeable during this particular stage. Consequently, this is something that we will improve in the near future because the standard of our recent editing has been much better. The two audience members also enjoyed the variety of jump cuts that feature in the video and this is an element that we are proud of. Finally, our teacher suggested to convert the performance footage to a nineties effect. We have thought about including this before, but after it has been suggested, we will experiment with the theme to see if it improves the quality of the video and fits with the song's genre.

Possible Front Cover Designs (Digipak)

Below are some possible ideas for the front panel of my digipak. This is not the image that I originally planned but is one that I like and was easily accessible to me. 

This cover simply displays the key conventions of the front cover of a digipak; the artists' name and album name. I chose this album name because the word 'fascination' features in the song that we are producing the music video for and the word is quite unique and original. It also looks right in the image above as everything is well proportioned. 

 As an alternative, I made the image smaller and put both pieces of information on the black background. I think that this works well because the image is well proportioned and the two texts in front of the black background stand out more than in the previous image due to white on black contrast.

For this design, I tried to include paper tears as this a technique that I have researched and wanted to incorporate into my digipak. This was a difficult effect to produce because I had to carefully cut out the tear in an image using the Lasoo tool which took time. I then duplicated the layer to produce a copy of the tear and put them in opposing corners parallel to each other. I also put the end of the n on 'fascination' behind the tear which I think looks quite good but is still obvious what the album title is.

Even though I like the design, I am not sure whether I will include this in my digipak because I am unsure how this will link to my other panels.

Today's Lesson

In today's lesson, we were given the opportunity to speak to two people involved with the media industry as they were filming a documentary at our school. They gave us an overview of their professions and roles and vaguely went through the key elements of the camera and mic etc. We also got the chance to try out these pieces of equipment and this was a great experience because I hadn't used any industry standard facilities before today. They also explained what they were filming and how they would film it. They said that the camera would be off the tripod for the majority of the shots, they would film a variety to cutaway with the sound in the background and make sure that everything was in focus. We believed that we stuck to these rules fairly similarly. Even though we have already filmed our footage, this information has got me thinking about the key ideas and will help me in the future where I would like to go into the media industry as a journalist. Below is a better picture of the Sony FS7 Mark 1 camera and the attachments such as a lens, handle, monitor and mic all featured on the camera in the lesson. 

Final Logo

Logo Development

I decided to try some new ideas for my logo as the ones that I have previously made have been developed on powerpoint. Therefore, I wanted to see if Photoshop could improve my logo. Above are some of my products and out of these, I prefer the top two because I think simplicity looks much more professional. In these designs, I chose a simple font and put the name in lower case letters which I like the look of. For the second one, the areas that are grey will be white and they are only grey to show up. This will look engaging on my digipak and poster and I can already picture it on my designs. One thing that is certain is my logo with the triangle and square and this likely to feature on a few panel of the digipak as it will be easy and to include. Overall, this task has brought me closer to my final design and has helped me think about how this will be integrated into my digipak productions. 

Digipak Inside Panel Development

Now that I have the images that I took on the camera available, I have started to edit my digipak and think of ideas to include. Today, I focused on panel 3 which will be viewed when the digipak is opened. This features a close up of Ryan and below, I have been experimenting possible ideas that I have previously looked at, particularly in my 'digipak inspiration' presentation...

I developed this image as follows. 1) Copied the image. 2) Put the one on top in black and white. 3) Erased the pupil of the eye out to leave the coloured eye behind.

I then thought about introducing smashed glass to fit in with the lyrics of the song we are producing the video for. I found an image on the internet and pasted it into Photoshop...

...I then used the magic eraser tool to remove the black background. After that, I positioned the layer above the coloured copy and below the black and white copy.

This technique was one that I looked at on Beck's 'Dreams' single cover where simple animated objects were positioned on a black and white image. I found each of the shapes online and simply filled them in with one solid colour. I also included my logo in the bottom right-hand corner to see what it would look like and I simply copy and pasted it from my computer and sharpened the edges with the sharpener tool.

Out of the three productions, it is difficult for me to pick my favourite. I believe that they could all be improved and edited to look even more professional although I think this is a good start on my digipak. Before I go any further, I need to establish what my theme is going to be and how I am going to produce it as if the panels don't link or have any connection with each other, the audience may misinterpret the genre or brand. This short Photoshop task has almost definitely concluded that all the images that feature on my digipak are going to be in black and white because it looks a lot more professional and works well when something colourful features, as shown in the panes I have produced above. Overall, I am happy with the start I have made on my digipak and I need to make sure that I come to a conclusion on my theme and also start to think about the poster as well.

Feedback from latest cut

What we have learnt:
In today's lesson, we asked a group of five people including our teacher to look at our latest cut to suggest things to improve and adjust. The image above vaguely displays their thoughts and I would say that the most important thing that the group pointed out was that the cuts needed to happen on the beat and not in random places or in-between a lyric. This is something that we have picked up on ourselves and will be altered during our next lesson. During our jump cut sections, the panel also inquired about a possible longer jump to each cut. At the moment, our intro includes clips that seem to repeat and this has been changed in a separate video and needs to be copied in. Also, the build-up to the chorus includes cuts that don't really jump at all where we have a long enough shot to jump more substantially. Overall, this quick feedback session has helped us massively because the group pointed out both things that we already knew needed to be improved, and things that we hadn't spotted ourselves. During our next lesson on Friday, we will go over each of the things pointed out by our audience and correct or improve them.

Editing (28th Nov)

chorus section from Tom Cornock on Vimeo.

In todays lesson, we focused again on a smaller section of the video. I am happy with the outcome and believe that so far this is the best edited part of the video so far. For instance, the cuts sync perfectly with the beat of the song. The video above shows the small section of the video and we think that the quick cuts would aid the build up to the chorus and add tempo to the song. In addition to this section, we placed some of the clips later in the video to give us a clearer idea of the crosscutting between the two characters in our narrative. We have placed the car scenes in different sections of the video and will surround these clips with other narrative and performance clips.

Editing (27th Nov)

editing example (chorus build up) from Tom Cornock on Vimeo.

In today's lesson, we focused on the middle section of our video. We added more narrative clips and focused on editing to the beat of the music. The clip above shows our first attempts on a minor section of the video. I like the constant crosscut between the two parts of the narrative as it helps to build the tension of the other character catching up with him. We have discovered that this can be rather time-consuming, but we have worked out the timings of the beat which makes it a lot easier to place and the clips well. Due to the large size of the file, we cannot upload the full video but we have started to place the narrative clips above the already placed performance and it is beginning to look like a semi-structured music video. We will improve the positioning of the clips section by section so each part is of a high quality.