The last album poster I decided to look at is promoting the album called 'Neighbourhoods' by the Pop Punk band Blink 182. This is another poster I decided to look at as again it conforms to my chosen genre - meaning I can take into consideration the features that have been used on this poster and could then possibly use these features myself on the album poster I will be creating for my artist. I also wanted to look at this poster in more detail because I have a keen interest in this band and wanted to understand why they have used certain features in more detail. Below you will be able to see that I have analysed the album poster and identified all of the conventions that appear on it, I have also looked at each convention in some detail and finally I have also completed a LIIAR analysis of the poster to enable me to understand how certain features have been used to appeal to the intended target audience.
The first thing I decided to do was annotate the poster to ensure that I had found all of the conventions on the poster and would then later be able to talk about them all in more detail to see how they have been used to appeal to the intended target audience. Here is the poster I have annotated:
Once I had annotated the poster I then decided to create a presentation where I would talk about each of the conventions in more detail and how they have been used and presented to appeal to the intended target audience, but also I decided to look at how the features that have been used on the poster are similar to the features that have been used on the album and how continuity has been created across the two texts.
Here is the presentation I created:
After looking at the conventions that appear on the poster in detail I then decided to complete a LIIAR analysis so I would again be able to understand why certain features have been used, what meaning they have and how they have been presented towards the intended target audience. Once again, I have decided to to create this analysis on a presentation which can be found below.
The second album I have decided to look at is promoting the album called '21st Century Breakdown' by the Punk band 'Green Day'. I wanted to look at this specific poster in more detail as it conforms to my chosen genre to a certain degree as this band is part of the Punk genre and my chosen genre is Pop Punk, but I also wanted to look at this poster in some detail as I thought it looked quite interesting and different to other album posters in the sense that it has essentially used the front cover of the album and then just added extra features to make it look like a poster and to ensure that it informs the audience about the album. Below you will be able to see that I have analysed the poster in some detail and identified all of the conventions that appear on the poster, I have also looked at each convention in detail to see how they have been created to appeal to the intended target audience and I have also done a LIIAR analysis of the poster.
Again, the first thing I decided to do was annotate the poster to find all of the conventions that are presented on it which I would later be able to look at in more detail to see how they appeal and engage the intended target audience. Here is the poster I have annotated:
After I had annotated the poster and identified all of the conventions that appear on it, I then decided to create a presentation where I would look at each of the conventions in some detail to understand how they have been used to appeal to the intended target audience, but also I have looked at how the the features on the poster are similar to the features that appear on the album and how continuity has been created across the two texts.
Here is the presentation I have created:
Once I had looked at all of the posters conventions in some detail I then wanted to complete a LIIAR analysis to enable me to understand the poster in some more detail especially in relation to how it had been created to appeal to its intended target audience and what the main meaning behind the poster actual is. I decided to create this analysis through the use of a presentation which can be found below.
The first album poster I have decided to look at in some detail is for an album called 'Love: Part One and Two' by the Alternative Rock band 'Angels and Airwaves'. I have decided to look at this poster in more detail because the genre conforms to my chosen genre to a certain degree, but also I am a fan of this band myself and wanted to look at how they promoted their album in more detail as I have listened to this album myself, so know everything that is on it and how it sounds, but I was just interested in how the band promoted this album. Below you will be able to see that I have analysed the poster and identified all of the conventions on the poster, I have also looked at each convention in detail and explained what they are and what they actually do for the intended target audience and lastly, I have also done a LIIAR analysis for the poster where I was able to see how the poster conveyed certain messages and appealed to the audience in the way that it was intended to.
The very first thing I decided to do was annotate the poster so I would be able to identify all of the different conventions that appeared on the poster which I would then be able to look at in more detail when I began to analyse them. Here is the poster I have annotated:
Once I had annotated all of the conventions on the poster, I then needed to begin looking at each of the conventions in detail to understand how they were being portrayed and presented towards the intended target audience and how they have been set out to appeal to the audience, but I have also looked at how the poster has similarities to the album that it is promoting and how this continuity has been created. I was able to write all of this information down through the use of a presentation which can be found below.
Here is the presentation I created:
Once I had looked at all of the conventions on the poster in some detail I then wanted to complete a LIIAR analysis of the poster so I would be able to understand how certain things have been presented towards the audience and what the meaning behind the whole idea of the poster is to try and engage its intended target audience. Again, I have decided to show this analysis through the use of a presentation which can be found below.
The last album I am going to look at is called 'Riot!' by the Pop Punk band 'Paramore'. Again, this is another album which conforms to my chosen genre which is one of the reasons I decided to analyse and look at it in more detail, but another reason I decided to look at this album is because I feel as if there is a lot happening on the album at once and I wanted to look at it in more detail to see what it all meant and to find out if there was a meaning behind any of it. Underneath you will be able to see that I have analysed the different conventions of the album, looked at each panel in detail and also given a LIIAR analysis of the album which I found has helped me in understand the meaning behind the album more and why it has been presented in a certain way.
Just like before, the first thing I decided to do was identify the different conventions that can be found on the album which I decided to present on a slideshow. Here is the slideshow I created:
Once I had annotated all of the different conventions on the album, I then decided to look at all of the panels included on the album in some detail so I would be able to understand why certain features have been used on each panel and what they do in trying to engage the audience. I have also looked at how the album conforms to its genre and how it appeals to its intended target audience which I have again decided to show through the use of a presentation.
Here is the presentation I created:
When I had looked at all of the different panels on the album in detail I then decided to do a LIIAR analysis of it which enabled me to look at the album in relation to how it appeals to the audience and what meaning the album itself has. Again, there are some similar features in this analysis which I have previously mentioned because of the similarities that runs across the whole of the album which has again been demonstrated through the use of a presentation which can be found below.
The second album I am going to look at in some detail is 'Lights and Sounds' by the Pop Punk/Alternative Rock band 'Yellowcard'. I decided that I would like to analyse this album in more detail because of the fact that this band used to be in the Pop Punk genre, but then later changed their sound to Alternative Rock - either way, I personally like and generally listen to both of these genres, but I wanted to analyse the album in more detail to see how and if the artist had changed when they changed their sound. Below you will be able to see that I have analysed the different conventions of the album, looked at each panel in some detail and also given a LIIAR analysis of the album which I think has helped me in learning more about albums and how they are presented and portrayed.
Similar to before, the first thing I decided to do was identify all of the different conventions of the album which can be seen in the slideshow presented below. Here is the slideshow I created:
After I had looked at all the various conventions included on the album, I then decided to look at them in more detail and explain the effects they have on the audience. I was able to do this by looking at each panel in some detail to see how certain features have been presented and how the album has been made to appeal to its intended target audience which has been demonstrated in a presentation that can be found below.
Here is the presentation I created:
Once I had looked at the different panels on the album in some detail I then wanted to complete a LIIAR analysis of the album to ensure that I had looked at the album in as much detail as possible. Again, a lot of what I have previously mentioned has been included in this analysis due to the fact that the majority of the features on the album have been used for the same reasons. This LIAR analysis has been demonstrated on a presentation which can be found below.
The first album I am going to be analyzing is called 'From Under The Cork Tree' by the Pop Punk band 'Fall Out Boy'. I decided to look at this specific album in more detail as it conforms to my chosen genre and I personally like it and enjoy listening to it myself and wanted to analyse the album in more detail as it was something that interested me. Below I have analysed the different conventions of the album, looked at each panel in detail and also given a LIIAR analyse of the album which has enabled me to learn a lot more about this specific album, but also albums in general.
The first thing I decided to do was identify all of the different conventions that appear on the album which would help me when I begin to analyse the album more closely. I decided to put this analysis on a slideshow which has been presented below. Here is the slideshow I created:
Once I had indicated what all the different conventions of the album were, I then decided to look at all of the panels that are contained in the album in more detail to see how certain features have been presented, but also to see how the album has been made to appeal towards its intended target audience and how it conforms to its genre. Again, I decided to put this information on a presentation which can be found below.
Here is my presentation:
After looking at the different panels that appear on the album in some detail, I then decided to do a LIIAR analysis of the album and a lot of the things I had already mentioned in the previous presentation have again been mentioned in this LIIAR analysis because they are similar in some ways. Like before, I decided to create this LIIAR analysis through the use of a presentation which can be found below.
After doing my research on digi-packs and album posters, I then needed to began thinking about how I would create and design my own digi-pack. The very first thing I had to do before designing and making any drafts was to get a template of the digi-pack I would be using. As I previously mentioned, there are an array of different layouts for a digi-pack which can all be seen in the image I have provided below, but the layout I have decided to go with is the six panel digi-pack which will include a CD and a DVD. I decided to use this layout as it is the most commonly used layout and is conventionally for the Pop Punk genre, so I will be able to look at an array of existing products which will help me when creating my own product, but also the six panel digi-pack will enable me to express my artist in the way I want as I will have plenty of room to add images of the artist to help the audience understand who she is as an artist and hopefully they will enjoy her music, listen to her and will also be intrigued by the images that will be used on the digi-pack. Underneath the list of different digi-pack layouts (which can be found below) I have provided an image of the template I will be using to create my digi-pack with and this template will help me in trying to figure out where everything will be placed and how it will all fit together. I was able to get these different images from the website for my college as all I had to do was go onto the 'Media Studies' course and I was then able to download a template which I would be able to use when constructing my digi-pack.
I own a wide range of CDs and digi-packs and I think it would be useful to use them and look at them when I begin to create my own digi-pack as I will be able to see how the physical copy is portrayed and will be able to use the same conventions that I have previously looked at on my own diig-pack to make it look realistic and make people want to purchase my artists digi-pack. I own various albums, so I decided to take pictures of only a few of them as it would take me a long time to get all of my albums together and lay them out to take photos.
Here is an image I have taken of some albums I own:
By looking at this image you are able to see that all the albums have the conventions I have mentioned in previous posts, which again enabled me, as the audience, to know that these products are all albums and will include a CD inside. Some of these albums are of the Pop Punk genre which will again be helpful to me when I begin to create my own digi-pack as I will be able to look at these albums in some detail to see what type of features I will be able to put on my digi-pack to ensure that it conforms to the conventions and the intended target audience will know that the album is from the Pop Punk genre. All of these albums have been designed differently and this is due to the fact that some of these albums use the jewel case style, while others use the digi-pack style - meaning they are designed and will look a different way, which I will later go into more detail about as I will be creating a digi-pack myself for own my artist.
As I am part of the audience that these albums are aimed at, I have noticed that I generally only buy albums for certain reasons and this is that I will only buy them if I really like the artist or band, other than that I tend not to by a physical copy of an album because I feel as if it will have no impact on me and that I would have just wasted my money. When I purchase the albums I usually don't care what they look like or what their design is because I just by the album for the simple fact that I really like the artist and just want to have their album in a physical form. This presents that it is imperative that I ensure my artist herself will have a big impact on her audience before her album will even go on sale - however, not everyone is like me and some people do look at the design and appeal of the album, so it is also important that I make sure the album artwork is appealing, will stand out and will hopefully make my artists target audience and maybe other audiences buy her album. I personally find that I generally don't even listen to the albums and sometimes I will buy them just as merchandise which I will put away with all of my other belongings, so often the creation of albums will be useful for audiences not just because they can listen to the music, but because they are able to create a larger collection in relation to certain artists.
Out of the eighteen albums I have presented in the image above, only four of them are actually digi-packs and since I will be creating my own digi-pack I decided just to look at these four albums in more detail. Below is a slideshow which presents the four different digi-packs which all have different layouts, so I decided to take images of the front, back and the inside of the digi-pack.
Here is the slideshow:
In this slideshow you are able to see that the first album that has been presented (the self titled 'McBusted' album) is a four panel digi-pack which just opens once to present one CD, the second album (which is an album by 'McFly' called 'Radio:Active') is a six panel digi-pack which is the layout I will be using for my digi-pack and when this album is opened, it presents the audience with two panels and then the panel on the right will open up to present two CDs or a CD and a DVD inside. The third album that has been presented (which is a live album again by 'McFly' which is called 'The 10th Anniversary Concert') is an eight panel digi-pack - this can be seen as when the digi-pack is first opened there will be two panels, but then both the panel on the left and right will open up and three discs will be located inside and also an image of the band will be presented on the far right panel - in this specific album, there are two CDs and one DVD. Finally, the last album (the self titled '5 Seconds Of Summer' album) is again a six panel digi-pack - however, this one is different to the previous one as it only contains one CD. When this digi-pack is opened the audience will again see two panels and the panel on the right can be opened, but instead of there being two discs, there is one in the middle and then just images on the panel located on the right.
Again, all of these digi-packs are different in their own way as they have all been created to appeal to different target audiences - however, they all use the same conventions and in a sense all promote themselves and appeal to audience in the same way. I feel that owning these albums myself makes it a lot easier for me when it comes to creating my own digi-pack for my artist because I know what type of features I would expect to see on a digi-pack and as part of the audience, I know what would appeal to me and what wouldn't, so I will be able to use this to my own advantage. Furthermore, when creating my digi-pack I will be able to look back at these existing digi-packs and get inspiration or help from them if I struggle with ideas or how to set certain things out because I know that all of these digi-packs have been successful and have done well in the industry, so by looking at them for inspiration I will hopefully create a high standard digi-pack that would surely fit in with these existing digi-packs as if it was already a professional digi-pack.
Similar to when I was planning to create my music video, I did a lot of research beforehand to help me in the process to actually create the music video. During this process I looked at all the different codes and conventions in relation to music videos and what would stereotypically be seen and is known to be in a music video. So since I will also be creating a digi-pack and album poster I will again need to look at the codes and conventions for these different texts and use different examples to help present these different codes and conventions. Again, by looking at all these, it will hopefully enable me to create a professional looking digi-pack and album poster which will entice and keep the intended target audience interested in the product and the artist.
Digi-Pack
Firstly, I decided to look at the different codes and conventions of a digi-pack as I knew I would be creating my own digi-pack before I would create my own magazine advertisement. As I own a lot of CDs and digi-packs myself, I already knew quite a lot about everything that appears on them and how they have been used to appeal to the intended target audience - however, I still decided to do some extra research and looked at the codes and conventions of a digi-pack in more detail. The first thing I decided to do was look at the codes and and conventions of a digi-pack in general and then I decided to look at the codes and conventions of a digi-pack in the Pop Punk genre as this is the genre of my music video and it would help me when I begin to create my own digi-pack for my artist.
Here is a presentation which explains the different codes and conventions of a general digi-pack:
After looking at the various codes and conventions of a digi-pack in general, I then decided to look at the codes and conventions of the Pop Punk genre in more detail as this is the genre of my music video and by looking at the genre I have chosen in more detail, it will help me much more when I actually begin to create my own digi-pack for my artist. When looking at the codes and conventions specifically to Pop Punk I noticed that there wasn't much different in relation to the features that are placed on a digi-pack from any other genre - however, the main difference is just in how the features have been presented and what type of fonts and colours are used on the digi-pack. I decided to create a quick presentation of the codes and conventions that are generally seen on a Pop punk digi-pack and this presentation can be found below.
Here is the presentation I have created:
Below I have created a mood board which includes an array of different front and back covers from different Pop Punk albums. By creating this mood board I will be able to gain a greater understanding as to what I will need to include on my digi-pack when I begin to create my own one for my artist.
Here is the mood board I created:
Album Poster
After looking at the codes and conventions of a digi-pack, I then needed to look at the codes and conventions in relation to an album poster. I'm not as familiar with album posters as I am with CDs and digi-packs as I don't really see them and nowadays I think they are rarely made as everything is now promoted through the television and through adverts on YouTube as this is a better way to promote products due to the incline of digitalisation. Nonetheless, as this is one of the products I will be creating I needed to look at the different codes and conventions to ensure that I would be able to create a realistic album poster that people would believe was real for my artist. Similar to the digi-pack, I have looked at the codes and conventions of an album poster in general and then have also looked at the codes and conventions of an album poster in relation to Pop Punk as this is the genre I have chosen to do for my music video.
Here is a presentation I created which presents what the code and conventions are of a general album poster:
The conventions of a Pop Punk album poster compared to any other album poster are generally the same which is the reason I have not created another presentation as I would essentially just be repeating myself. All the same conventions would be used and will typically be presented in the same way as any other album poster. Again as said before, the only difference will be the fact that the style, colours and fonts will be different to other genres as they will need to conform to the Pop Punk genre, but the fonts that are used on the album poster will usually just be the fonts that have been used on the album, so they will conform to the correct genre and use all of the conventional features that would stereotypically be seen on a Pop Punk album and poster. As I have not created a presentation to show all of the different album posters from the Pop Punk genre that already exist, I decided to create a mood board of existing Pop Punk album posters and hopefully by looking at these different posters I will gain a greater understanding of how the Pop Punk genre portrays their albums and will hopefully incorporate those ways into my own poster when I eventually create it.
Here is the mood board I created:
Continuity
As I have said throughout the presentations above, continuity is a very important aspect in relation to the album and poster - this is because if the two texts looked completely different to each other than the audience wouldn't relate them to each other and the main purpose of the poster is to promote the album and if it didn't relate to it in any way then it wouldn't be promoting it and would just essentially be a poster of an artist or even just an image with writing on. When trying to create continuity between these texts, they don't need to have every feature exactly the same as this could be boring for some audiences, all that is needed is essentially the same fonts, colours and perhaps the same image - however, a different image could be used, but again it would need to link in with the album in some way. Above I have demonstrated many different examples of how continuity has been created across the two products - however, below is one more example just to prove how continuity can easily be constructed between the two products.
There is a lot more I need to work on in relation to my music video - however, I have finally created my first draft of my music video and although I have already filmed all of my shots, I have only edited 1:46 of the whole 4:20, so there is still a lot more that needs to be edited. In this first draft I have only been playing around with the colour correction tool, so the different shots may seem as if they are different colours and this is because I am trying out various colours to see which would best suit the video, but also I still need to add a range of different effects to some of the cuts. Following on from that, the scenes that have been shot in front of the brick wall will have a green box around the shots frame and this is due to the fact that I have added an effect to the cut, but have not yet figured out how to make it fit the whole of the frame rather than just a small part of it.
When it came to shooting at the Humber Bridge Country Park I again needed to ensure that I had all of the relevant equipment to help me in filming the rest of the scenes for my music video. I wanted to ensure that I had all of the equipment I needed before I left college to ensure that I would be able to begin filming as soon as I got to the forest to hopefully complete all of the shots I need. In the image below you are able to see that the equipment I used on this day included: a Canon EOS 1200D camera, an 8 Gigabyte sand disk (SD) card, a tripod and my drawing book, which again included my storyboard so I would know what I would need to be filming and where it fits in relation to the music video. When I was filming on this day I did take extra equipment with me like a bag and other essentials - however, these were not important in relation to me trying to get all of the shots for my music video complete. As I was filming on a Friday, I decided to book the camera equipment out on the Thursday and I took it home that evening and then asked my mum to bring the equipment with her when she came to pick us up to go to the Country Park and I did this instead of booking it out on the Friday because I had a full day on the Friday morning and I didn't want to waste any time, so as soon as our lesson ended on the Friday, we both went straight to the car and went to the Country Park. All in all, I had all of the equipment I needed and was prepared to start filming the rest of the music video.
On The Day
Again, as I was filming at the Humber Bridge Country Park it meant that I was going to be outside and I would need to keep an eye on the weather to ensure that it wasn't going to rain or anything else too drastic was going to occur that would stop me from filming. When it actually came to it, me and Laura actually left college at around 11:30am on this day and began filming at 12:00pm while finishing at 1:45pm and this was due to the fact that we manged to re-shoot and get the rest of the shots on the storyboard in just under 2 hours which left us quite a lot of time to get back to college before our last lesson began. On this Friday morning I decided to look at the weather to see what it would be like on the day and in the image I had presented you are able to see that although it was partly cloudy, it was also partly sunny - meaning, I knew that this was going to be a good day to film and I had a feeling that it was going to be a better filming session than the previous one I had done. When acting filming, the weather was quite nice and both me and Laura thought it was going to be quite cold, but it wasn't that bad which made the filming process a lot more fun and easier because there was nothing for us to be worried or even complain about.
Once I had got back home from college after my last lesson, the first thing I did was save all of the videos and images that I had taken on this day onto my computer to ensure that they would be in a safe place and that I wouldn't lose them and could easily get to them when I need to. In the image below you will be able to see that I named the folder I put all of the videos and images in 'Woods Day 3' and again this was to ensure that I would easily be able to know that all of the 115 items in this folder were filmed on this day, so I knew what shots would be in this folder if I needed them. Now that I had all of the shots I needed for the whole of my music video, I will now be able to create a full draft.
When filming in this location we again decided to take some images as evidence that we were filming in this specific location on this day. We mainly took all of these photos once we had finished all our filming and this was because we wanted to get evidence for filming in this location, but also I wanted to ensure that we got all of the shots we needed completed as this was my priority, but once we had finished and there was some spare time, I just decided to take some images. In the images below you are able to see me actually using the camera and in the specific images I have presented, I am crouched down with the camera and this was due to the fact that I was trying to shoot from a low angle in this image. On top of that, in the rest of the images you are able to see Laura in front of the camera and these were taken to just generally demonstrate where the camera was placed in relation to Laura when we were filming. In these images you are also able to see how much brighter they are compared to the images I had taken on the previous filming day - which presents that all of the video clips that had been filmed on this day would be a lot brighter than the previous ones and would look a lot better when it is all put together in my music video.
Here are the images we took while filming in this location:
Here is a video I made which includes some of the various shots I took during this filming day to give you a feel for what the filming process was like. I have presented many different shots, both which will be used in my final video and some which probably won't:
The equipment I used on this fourth day was again essentially the same as the previous days I had been shooting as I just needed to same equipment to get the outcome I wanted. Due to the fact that I was filming in the same location, I knew what equipment I needed for the shots I was doing, so making sure I had the equipment I needed wasn't essential because I already knew what I should have with me. In the images below you are able to see that the equipment I used on this day included; a Canon E0S 1200D camera, an 8 Gigabyte sand disk (SD) card and my drawing book which includes my storyboard to ensure that I will know what I will need to be filming. When filming on this day I didn't really need any extra equipment and essentially just needed the camera equipment to ensure that I would be able to film what I needed and also get the rest of the shots for this location. When it came to getting the camera equipment I didn't need to get any from the Media department and this was due to the fact that I already had the equipment because I had previously been filming on the Tuesday of the same week, so I just decided to keep the equipment as I knew I would be able to use it at the end of the week as well and because I had also taken out a charger at this time, it meant that the camera was fully charged and I was ready to start filming the rest of the shots that would need to be complete in this location. Overall, I had all of the equipment I needed to ensure that I would be able to get the shots I needed from this location.
On The Day
As I would be filming outside, I needed to keep an eye on the weather especially because of what happened the first time I filmed in this location, even though I knew it was going to rain, but I still decided to film. When I woke up on the Friday morning I decided to have a look at the weather and in the image on the left hand side which I have presented below, you are able to see that the weather was apparently going to be quite cloudy, but would also have a bit of sun at the same time - meaning, there was no rain so I was hoping it would stay dry until we actually begin to film later on in this location. On this day we actually ended up leaving college at around 12:40pm and began filming at 1:10pm and ended up finishing to 4pm. In this time we still didn't manage to get all of the shots we needed due to an issue we came across which I will later go into more detail about. Nonetheless, once we had got to the Humber Bridge Country Park I decided to look at the weather and see what it would be like and I noticed that for the rest of the day it was going to be sunny except from sunset at 3:50pm which is when it will begin to get dark which is the main issue I had when filming on this day. All in all, the weather was generally reasonable on this day - however, the time we had filming (which was only around 2 hours and 50 minutes) wasn't long enough for us to get the rest of the shots we needed for this location which means that we will need to come back to this location again, but hopefully we will complete all of the shots as there are only around 32 more shots that need to be done including some shots that will need to be retaken.
After I had got home after filming in this location, I then saved all of the videos onto my computer to ensure that they were in a safe place and that I wouldn't lose them if I need them and when I continue to edit my music video, but also when I want to go through all of the shots to see which ones I will want to use in my music video. In the image below you are able to see the folder in which I saved all of the images and videos from this filming day and I called this folder 'Woods Day 2' so I would know that all of the items in this folder would be either images or videos which were taken on this specific day. You are also able to see that this folder contains 90 different items which is again all of the images and videos which I took on this day. When looking at this image you will be able to see that a lot of the videos look quite dark and this is due to the fact that this was one of the issues I came across when filming on this day which again I will talk about in more detail later underneath the heading which reads 'Problems'. On the previous filming days you are able to see that both me and Laura decided to take images to evidence that we were filming in a specific location on a specific day - however, when filming on this day we didn't actually take images and this was partly because of the fact that we didn't want to waste any time and wanted to hopefully get all of the shots complete, but also I personally think this was just a bad filming day and in a way I knew that I would have wanted to re-shoot even if I did get all of the shots I needed, so I decided not to take any images because I didn't think it would be worth it as we would be going back to this location anyway.
Problems
The only main issue we actually came across when filming on this day was the fact that it got dark very quickly, which meant that all of the videos looked really dark and there was a lot of background noise in them. Due to the fact that we were filming during Winter, it meant that the sun was going to go down quite early and it was going to get a dark a lot quicker. Even when I didn't think it was that dark when filming, I noticed that on the camera it was a lot darker than it actually was in real life, so because of this I knew straight away that I was going to have to re-shoot the majority of these shots from this day. As I said before, I personally think this day was just a bad filming day for us, but even though we did have this issue, we still managed to get some good shots before it actually began to get dark. On this day I actually did do quite a few shots, but once I got home I went through all of them to see which ones I could use in the final music video and I noticed that quite a lot of the videos were bad quality, so there were actually a few I went through that would need to be re-shot and on top of this I would also have the rest of the shots which I didn't complete on this day because there was no point wasting more time in the forest when I knew that the quality of the videos weren't going to be good.
When noticing that some of the videos I had shot were quite dark, I decided to take some images to see how dark everything actually was to see if I could continue filming in that light and obviously we stopped once I noticed how bad the lighting was. Nonetheless, here are some of the images I had taken:
Here are some of the shots I have put together in a video that I had taken on this day which were really dark and most likely won't be used in my video as I will re-shoot them:
When looking at these images and videos you are able to see that the odd few actually aren't that bad - however, I would't use them because the lighting is so much darker than the previous videos I had shot on the first day of filming and if I put all of these videos which have different lighting into the same music video then continuity wouldn't be created and the music video wouldn't look professional or even look good. Overall like I said before, I believe this was just a bad filming day for both me and Laura and looking back at the videos I now know that I would never use them and I am glad that I have decided to re-shoot them because if I ever looked back at my music video and I had put these shots in, then I would be disappointed due to the fact that I know I would have had the opportunity to re-shoot it and make it better. So hopefully, next week I will be able to re-shoot these scenes and also shoot the rest of the scenes I need which will hopefully be better than the shots I did during this filming session. Overall, there were the odd shots I got which actually looked good (for example the ending scene) - however, I just need to get the rest of the shots and hopefully shoot them when it isn't that dark.
Before I went to this location I again needed to ensure that I had all of the equipment I needed to film and I wanted to ensure I had everything so that when I got back to my house I would be able to begin filming as soon as I had moved all of the objects out of the way in the loft and have set up all of the equipment. The equipment that I used for this filming shoot included; a Canon EOS 1200D camera, an 8 Gigabyte sand disk (SD) card, a tripod, a Neewer (CN-160) external camera light and also my drawing book to ensure that I had my storyboard and would be able to refer back to it when shooting in this location especially due to the fact that these shots included a performance. Again, this is generally all of the main equipment I needed for this shooting - however, there was also the odd equipment I needed, which is again similar to my previous shooting and this included things like the lyrics to ensure that Laura would have all of the correct words and would get them perfect when filming. Due to the fact that I had booked to take out the camera the day before, I also decided to take out a charger just in case I wanted to keep the camera for longer after this filming day to ensure that I would always have a full battery, but also just in case the battery may have died while I was shooting in the loft - however, I did learn my lesson from before and did turn off the camera every time I had taken a shot I needed.
On The Day
Our aim was to leave college by lunch time and we did manage to do this as by the time both of our last lessons finished (12:40pm) we left the college and went back to my house. By the time we got back to my house, we both had lunch and then I went into the loft to move all of the objects that were in the way and also to get the equipment into the loft to begin setting it up. We actually managed to begin filming at 1:40pm and were able to complete all of the shots we needed for this location by 3:20pm, which meant that we had spent a good 2 hours and 20 minutes getting all of the shots we needed. When actually filming, there were no big issues - however, moving the camera around and physically trying to get past the wood blocks in the loft was quite annoying, so I had to compromise and film all the that are from the same angle at one point and then I moved and did all the shots that are from the same angle in a different position and so on until I got all of the shots I needed. When setting up I did notice that the lighting wasn't that great, so it was good that I brought the external camera light with me because it meant that I was able to add more light to the scene and make the shots look more professional and clearer for people to see. Moreover, to get into the loft I, me and Laura obviously had to climb a ladder and this was kind of a draw back because it meant that as soon as me and Laura went up into the loft we wouldn't be able to keep going down and then back up because it would waste a lot of time, but also due to the fact that it wouldn't be that safe if we just kept going up and down in a short amount of time, so we had to ensure that we had everything before we went up into the loft.
Once we had completed all of the shots in this location, we then took Laura home and once I got back to my house I then put all of the videos that we had taken on this day on to my computer, so again they would be in a safe place and I would be able to go back to them when I want to continue editing my music video and also to see which shots I would like to use in my video. In the image below you are able to see that I have put all of the video files into the same folder on my computer which I called 'Loft' which contained 54 items, so when I go back to my videos to begin editing my music video I will know where to go to find any videos which were filmed in the loft.
Again, while filming in this location, both me and Laura decided to take some images of ourselves as evidence of filming on this day and in this location. In these images you are able to see how many different objects were actually in the loft and how it all had to be moved to ensure that there wasn't anything visible in the video that shouldn't be there. Originally, where Laura is sat there were piles of suitcases and other objects which had to be moved to ensure that Laura would be able to sit down in front of the brick wall, but also to make sure that it didn't actually look like it was being filmed in a loft. Also, in these images you are able to see how dark the loft was which was beneficial in a way because that meant it would suit the genre more - however, it was a lot darker than it needed to be which meant that I had to use the light to ensure that Laura was clear on the camera. In these images it looks as if the light is really bright - however this was the perfect lighting to ensure that Laura could be seen in the video and was clear. Moreover, when actually filming I wanted to make sure that the light wouldn't die as when I was given the light I was told that the charge on the batteries wasn't full, so between every shot I turned both the camera and the light off to save charge, but this meant that the room was really dark and hard to see in, so it meant I would have to turn the loft light on between takes as well to ensure we were able to see what we were doing. Lastly, in these images you can also see that there actually wasn't that much room to be filming in, so I had to be careful that I didn't get any unnecessary things in the shot and that I was still able to create the shots I wanted without being able to move around a lot.
Here are the images I took while filming in this location:
Here is a video which includes some of the shots I took during this filming session. Not all of the shots I have presented in this video will be used in my final video - however, I have just presented this to give you a feel for what filming on this day was like:
The equipment I needed for my second filming day was basically the same as when I was filming the first shoot, except from the fact there that were some different things that I needed with me due to the fact that I was filming in a different location and needed certain things to help me get the look I wanted for my video. In the images below you will be able to see that the equipment I used on this day included; a Canon EOS 1300D camera, an 8 Gigabyte sand disk (SD) card, a tripod, my drawing book which had my storyboard for my music video inside and also all of the lighting equipment that was available to me in the green room that would enable me to get perfect lighting when filming in the room. All of the equipment that has been presented in the image is generally all we used when filming in this location on this day - however, there was sometimes the odd things that we use while filming - for example, there was one time when shooting where neither one of use knew what the lyrics were, so we needed to get the lyrics out to ensure that Laura would get them correct and that her mouth would match with the song once the music video has all be put together. On the previous filming day I said that my camera actually ran out of charge - however, I did not need to worry about this happening while filming in this location due to the fact that I was right next to the equipment centre, so if my battery ran out of charge then I would just be able to get a new one which is fully charged - nonetheless, like I said before, I didn't want to waste time, so I still turned off the camera after ever shot I did. Overall, all the equipment I had was all I needed at the time to complete all of the shots I needed in this location.
On The Day
As mine and Laura's lunchtime began at 12:40 am, we decided to spend 20 minutes eating our lunch and then we went to the green room. The time we spend filming on this day was just under 2 hours as we began filming at 1pm and finished at 2:50pm which just gave both of us enough time to get to our last lesson of the day. I was originally going to go to the green room beforehand and prepare the equipment - however, I realized I would need Laura as I needed her to be in front of the camera for me to see how the lighting was, so we eventually just went to the green room together. When we got there I noticed that the white backdrop wasn't up and in the position I wanted it to be in for meet to stat filming, so this meant that we had to find Liam to ask him to help with putting this backdrop up. Due to this, it meant that we took around 10 minutes just to set up the equipment before we actually began filming anything, but we eventually got everything prepared and was ready to begin filming. Thankfully we actually managed to get all of the shots for this location which was beneficial as it meant that I could easily begin editing my video as I has all of the shots for this location, but also it meant that continuity would have been created throughout my video, because if I needed to film again another day then the lighting I set up the second time may not be exactly the same as the first which could have been an issue in the video - however, we wouldn't need to do any more shots in this location, so this wasn't an issue.
After spending the afternoon filming, I then went home after college and uploaded all of the shots to my computer desktop to ensure that I would have them in a safe place where I will easily be able to access them. In the image below you will be able to see that I created a folder called 'Green Room' which is where I put all of the photos and videos that I had taken on this day and this included 65 different items which actually isn't that many compared to the items I had on the first shooting - however, I got all of the shots I needed - meaning, I would easily be able to begin editing my video.
Again, while filming in this location I wanted to get some images of both me and Laura just to have evidence to show that we were filming on this day. In these images you are able to see both me and Laura - however, while I am working on the camera to get the shots, she is in front of the camera preparing to shoot for the scenes that I need. In these images you are able to see all of the different lighting equipment we actually used when filming in this location and this was to ensure that we had the correct brightness and that the video didn't look too bright, but at the same time it didn't look too dark and that the audience would be able to see Laura's face when the video is played. When setting up the lighting I was actually more worried about the lighting being too dark than too light because if the lighting was too dark then it would have meant it would have been hard to see Laura, but also I wouldn't really be able to edit this and make it better in Premiere Pro - however, if the lighting was too light then I would possibly be able to make some changes in the editing stage, but it was best for me to ensure that the lighting was perfect at the time and I personally think that I got it as best as I could.
Here are the images we took while filming in this location:
Here is a video I have made that includes some of the combined shots that I had taken on the day to give you a feel for what filming on this day and in this location was like and what some of the shots I got were, even if they are shots I may not use in my final video:
