Research and Planning evaluation

Research and Planning presentation

Website ideas

Website 
To build up the star image for our band we need to create a webpage for them. To do this I have used a website called 'Wix'. This is a fantastic free webpage creation platform that enables us to innovate colourful and imaginative webpages that fulfil the needs of an informative band webpage. Wix allows the user to insert widgets and links for a low cost and in our case no cost. The website is simple, informative and clear. Wix also allows you to create a mobile version of your webpage, which is very useful considering how popular smart phones are now. 

Calum took lead control on creating the website as working with social media/platforms is one of my strong points. We started off by choosing a template for the webpage. We went with a music based template as i felt it was appropriate considering we are producing a premium product for a band. We then chose the background wallpaper for the website, I chose a print that replicated a similar theme to the promo vid but still maintained the earthy/organic image of 'Lion The Weak'. Image used below:

The first step we took was creating the front page, this needed to be catching but no too cluttered. The band's title/logo acted as a centre-piece for the home page. The front page also needed to give information about the band's latest release. It also included various links to where you can buy tickets to their european tour aswell as where you can listen to their track 'Wasted Words' via an interactive widget for 'Soundcloud'.

Thirdly we created a page that would act as a blog, this includes pictures, news and exclusive information about the band. This gives the fans a greater sense of involvement with the band. The ideas I have already included on the website are a gallery style display of photos involving the band, we also included a selection of songs that the lead singer 'Jack' is particularly enjoying at this moment in time. We named this 'Jack's Favourites'. The blog page also keeps the fans involved with the band's social networking links, eg Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Soundcloud.

The final page is designed to give updates of the band's show dates. Information on this page includes, the date of the show and where the show is taking place. My original aim with the website was to create something that is as informative as possible but not cluttered. It is very important that it is aesthetically pleasing for the fans.

Digi-Packs

What is a CD Digipak? Class discussion...

-They’re a traditional format, which we can buy online

-We can download album  artwork when buying the track/s online

-Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style)

-Conventions are a widely recognised way of doing something

-The spine becomes the index point

-There is a front cover, back cover, a CD page and an inside cover



We took inspiration from this video off YouTube for ideas on our digi-packs

We looked at two different digi-packs in class, to explore the different ways they can be laid out and present. We looked at Passenger's album and Caro Emerald.

PASSENGER DIGI PACK

CARO EMERALD CD

 

CARO EMERALD'S ALBUM COVER

 

These are some ideas we are having for the digi-pack and what we're basing the design around. 

Lion The Weak Album Artwork

These are the bands existing album artworks. They all have a similar style as they are all black and white and follow this nature theme, showing their organic and their alternative style. We will probably follow a similar style to their existing artworks. I like the idea of using the lions face to be a motif in their artworks.

Evaluation of dance/narrative shoot day

Evaluation of Film Day

Finally, the crucial day that we all feared came. The dance and narrative elements of our music video, were the ones debated and discussed the most, questioning whether they were really need for the video, as the band would only want the performance element for publicity and promotional reasons. However, our set designer TA had spent hours gathering our set together and we had spent a lot of our preparation time, organising our dancers Liv and Harry. I also was determined the dance element would work really well against the performance of the band. So we made the decision to continue with the idea, do the shoot day and decide afterwards on whether we would use the footage.

We arrived at the studio, and I had to collect Olivia's costume from our costume director at college. I had pre-arranged with her to bring in a green/blue colour tea dress. We dressed up Liv, and at first I was unsure on whether it was right for the theme (I was aiming for a vintage 'roaring 20s' look). However, I realised we also wanted a focus on the naturalism of the piece, and the subtlety of the dress was perfect. Together with curled hair and red lips, she looked perfect for the era and it matched the set design and Harry's costume perfectly (He wore checked trousers, a shirt, braces, brogues and glasses). 

Preparing 20s makeup for the shoot

Once we'd sorted the way the actors looked, we rehearsed and choreographed exactly what they going to perform once the camera was on them. It was a romantic, chair duet where they played off each other, in an obvious early relationship. Once the 45 seconds was confirmed (the length of footage we needed), there was one final aspect of the set that had to be completed- our home made frames. We had forgotten the pictures that were supposed to be placed in the A2 sized frames and so Calum went and printed off two A4 pictures of lions (relating to Lion the Weak) and bordered them on an A2 piece of card. The frames were made from polystyrene, a wooden frame and then sprayed gold. From afar in the Wide Shots they looked really realistic and complimented the 'chesterfield style' sofa so well. Once everything was sorted, we began filming.

Pre-Shoot Rehearsal

We started with an easy wide shot of the pair doing their dance. The WS effectively presented our theme of Wes Anderson. The symmetrical 'lounge' setting with the sofa central and the lamps framing the room was a perfect set up. We had a few troubles with filming the wide shot, as we had to get everything exactly right, as you can see everything in the shot! For example, the lamp would wobble when walking past it. Once we got the wide shot, we moved on to the mid shots, close ups etc. 

Our set design by Tracy Ann

When editing our piece, I'm hoping it looks exactly like it did on the screen connected to the camera when we filmed. The effect and lighting created this beautiful vintage colouring for the shots, which I fell in love with. The set worked perfectly for wide shots. Behind the camera, the group took turns doing separate roles. For instance Katie took on the role of measuring distance between camera and actor for focus, I took on role of filming and "rolling", Finbar did playback on the iPad and Calum director and made sure everything was in place. These were the original positions, however, we altered throughout the day and the process. I learnt a lot during filming. Especially about getting the shot in focus, getting the same measurement between camera and actor as on the camera's lens.

Behind the camera

Our actors were extremely patient, when we had to alter the camera lens and position of the camera. They took direction really well, and we all co-operated very well with eachother. A few stresses arose throughout the process of filming day for instance: we wanted a shot of the record player and record, however, the label on the record didn't have 'Lion the Weak' on it. We therefore had to make one for the record. It seemed as if we were wasting time on petty things- but in the end it all collaborated together and was all worth it.

Shooting close ups

Throughout the day we worked together on decided shots and how many we needed, with the dancers repeating their choreography countless times. However, we realised in order to get, for example, one shot of the feet moving, they would only have to do the dance section of the bit where the feet come into that shot. Complicated, but it made sense. The actors were so patient and worked brilliantly with us, co-operating with all our directions.



The beginning process of drawing the lion



 

The Lion Symbol progression


After we'd wrapped up the actors shots, we took lunch break, then came back to get our narrative section of the video. We had previously decided we would draw the 'Lion the Weak' symbol on the wall of our set. There was discussion about which wallpaper we were using, and whether using a dark one would risk not being able to see the drawing. Later in the process, we finally chose a pale, lighter wallpaper, in order for us to write and draw on it.
In the last 2 hrs of the day, we created a stop- motion with a digital photography camera, that we plan to edit together in order to create an animation of the drawing being created.


Overall the filming day went really successfully, and we had no real problems. Apart from a few spats, the group worked thoroughly well as a team, and we all look forward looking at the footage and editing it all together, receiving a great result at the end that we deserve.



Second part of shoot

On Monday 24th we have our second shoot day, in order to complete the dance and narrative element of our music video. Our set is all pre-prepared so that is no worry, however, I still need to sort out the costume for our piece, and the rehearsal process for the dance element. We are pushed for time, and have probably procrastinated the process due to the performance element filming, but I am sure we will sort it over the weekend and make sure everything is organised.

Editing the Performance Element

We are using 'Premier Pro' to edit our music video, it is a advanced creative platform that allows us to create professional pieces of work at great ease. It has more advanced elements to it which are commonly used at industry level, this means our work can replicate a similar quality to a industry created music video.

We have decided to begin editing the performance element first, rather than waiting to film the 'Dance Element' as the crucial video for our band is the performance element, and they have no interest for the dance element of our ideas. This also means that if any management companies approached 'Lion the Weak' asking for a music video, we would have something prepared to give to the band.  are sticking however to filming, as the set designer has created our whole set, and it would be a waste to dump it. And we also, agree as a group, that the dance element will work really well with our video's theme. 

We originally started by syncing the performance footage with the track by matching the time code on the footage with time code on the Premier Pro timeline. This enabled us to successfully match up the lip-syncing with the vocals in the track, also to match the instruments with the track. 

We are working really well as a team on the editing, all giving individual opinions on the shoots. We aim to have a nice flow of shot for instance, with the lead guitarist slowly moving the neck of the guitar to the left, following through with a track to create a smooth transition. 

Today, 21st November, we finished our first draft of editing the performance element of the music video. It has gone pretty smoothly, and we seem to have finished a long time before other groups, which comes down to good communication and co-operation I feel. However, we presented it to Luke, and he has given us about 5 things to improve on for the shot editing. The most crucial was to include far more shots and close ups of the lead singer, in order to get the lyrics as it can, at times be unclear of what is being sung. We took all the advice and feedback on board, and will correct them later on in the process. 

Shoot day

Hearing feedback on how the performance element of the shoot day went, was extremely reassuring as I was absent from the shoot. Despite the fact I missed this, I will take head lead on the dance element shoot day on the 24th November. 


This week we started the post production process after a successful first shoot day on Saturday 15th. We recorded the performance element of our video. The band members worked very well together and they kept concentration and energy through-out the day, which was exactly what we needed. The band arrived early and we took publicity photos of them in order to use them for our digi-pack and website later on in our coursework process.

Shooting 'Lion the Weak'