Green Screen Practice

What I have learnt:
I chose to complete this extra creative task because I hadn't had any experience using green screen so I wanted to learn how to use it and how it worked. I started by filming a class mate completing different actions in front of a green piece of cloth held up by someone else. This enabled me to insert a background onto iMovie above my video and apply the green/blue screen button pictured above. This was simple enough to complete and we managed to create a video using multiple cuts. However, I experienced a few issues when producing this video. Firstly, the cloth that I used had lots of creases in it meaning that there were random black lines in the shot, reducing the videos quality. Also, the cloth wasn't large enough to fit my class mate stood up in front of it, resulting in border of random background that didn't match the video we inserted. As well as this, my actor lacked expression, a common theme in my videos, and there are certain areas where he can be seen talking to others in the room. However, the main purpose of this video was to see how green screen works and I now know what needs to be done in the future to create a more professional product.

Advanced Editing

editing from Tom Cornock on Vimeo.

What I have learnt:
Advanced editing techniques will need to feature in my final music video to achieve the highest grade so this task gave me the opportunity to try out different techniques and play around with iMovie so that I would be more comfortable using these methods in the future. We attempted multiple edits like jumping through a window, rewinding a clip, slow motion, series of cuts put together, water bottle filling up, jumping through a car door, jumping on different chairs and finally jumping into another location. I had not previously tried most of these advanced editing techniques before this task and this helped me learn what worked well and what didn't. The technique that I believe worked best was when I was jumping onto different chairs on the same spot as it looked seamless and professional. Jump cuts will have a crucial role in my music video because they are engaging and liven up a sequence. We experienced some difficulties with continuity as we were filming on a iPhone 6 without a tripod. Therefore, we found it extremely difficult to keep the phone in the same place for different cuts, reducing the videos quality. Overall, there are many elements that could have improved this video from a more confident actor to a more planned out production but these can be addressed and changed because of my experiences during this task.

Digipak Remake

What I have learnt:

This task has mainly helped me adapt my previously learnt Photoshop skills and also reminded me how to apply different techniques. I found this task fairly simple because we were given the task of copying an original digipak so it was obvious what it should look like. However, this task also allowed me to add extra elements to the digipak which I believe I did well. I chose to base my digipak on both of Kygo's latest single covers as they are both similar and were complex enough for me to be challenged but also to provide a good copy. The main part of this cover was the image and this is where most of my focused was aimed as if the image was right, the rest of the cover would look good. I took many images on my iPhone 6 which produced surprisingly professional results and chose the best ones. However, as the people I used weren't wearing black clothing and instead wearing contrasting colours, I was set a difficult task to try and fade them out on a white background. I tried to use a smudging tool but this would have taken a while to look accurate so I believe that with more time, the images could have been blended better. One element of the digipak that I found easy to replicate was the logo as I was able to set each element as a separate layer allowing me to position them to perfection. I also had difficulty with the line of colour that flows from one side of the digipak to the other. This was mainly due to the white background which caused me many problems in this task. Finally, an added extra that I included were red strips at the top and bottom of the cover and I used the magic eraser tool to complete this element. By reducing the opacity of the eraser minor changes could be made and one colour could by left, hence creating this effect. Overall, this task has taught me that thinking about and planning a digipak cover is crucial because certain elements that I didn't plan ruined the cover.

Photoshoot

Original Photos:

Edited Photos:

What I have learnt:
I decided to take the opportunity to complete this extra task as I knew that photography is huge part of digipaks and posters that promote an artist. Therefore, I wanted to get some experience with a camera and lighting before creating my own digipak poster to gain key skills. One of the main features in all of my photos is lighting and we altered this aspect in every shot to experiment what worked well. From this, I have learnt that when the lighting is at an angle, shadows are created, hence giving you a professional and abstract shot. Because of this outcome, I will make sure that any lighting I use in pictures is at an angle to create an authentic look. I also attempted to edit some of our images on Photoshop during this task. Whilst I edited the images I came across features like the magic eraser tool, changing all aspects of an image like contrast etc and also how to change the background. From previous Photoshop tasks from this year and last year, I have become very comfortable using the application and have also realised the importance of the magic eraser tool as it can cut out part of an image with significant accuracy. Overall, this task has helped me feel more comfortable with the Photoshop software and camera features so that I can apply the things that I have learnt into my final product.