Task 13: Evaluation Question 4

Question 4:

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Task 13: Evaluation Question 3

Question 3:

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

After i had carried out lots of research into existing products, i had to create and then present a PowerPoint presentation to the rest of my class explaining to them what i had chosen to do - music video, which artist and track i had selected - Phoebe Ryan - Mine and also the concept of my music video - narrative and performance. Following this, the class then asked me any questions that they had about my project. Some of the questions that were asked are as follows;

1. How did you discover the artist Phoebe Ryan?
2. Why did you decide to do a music video with both narrative and performance concepts?
3. Why did you chose that specific genre of music?
4. What will be the storyline for your narrative?
5. Where will the performance shots/footage be taken?  

My answers to these questions are as follows;

1. I discovered the artist American singer/songwriter Phoebe Ryan whilst i was carrying out my artist research as she originally did a cover of R.Kelly's - Ignition in a mash-up with Miguel's - Do You Like Drugs? which i really enjoyed listening to as it gives both of the songs some modernization. Due to the fact that both Victoria and i enjoy listening to artists such as Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne and Sam Smith, we decided that Phoebe Ryan's single - Mine would be the perfect choice for our music video.  
2. Victoria and i chose to make our music video both narrative and performance based as we love the idea of a storyline with the artist acting but also by having the artist performing the song in the video also, it makes the video personalized to them and therefore, is more likely to attract an audience who enjoys listening to that particular artist. Some videos that we  mainly researched included the both narrative and performance based video for Lay Me Down by Sam Smith, the performance video Real Love by Jess Glynne ft. Clean Bandit and the both narrative and performance based video Skinny Love by Birdy; in the end leading us to choosing narrative and performance.
3. We chose the specific genre of music as it is what we both listen to the most amongst other genres. In addition to this, it is also the type of genre that is always in the charts in not just the UK but around the world too so therefore, it would attract much attention and sell loads of copies leading to a profit being made. Furthermore, this genre of music is also perfectly fitted to our target audience of young adults/teenagers aged 15-25 years old.
4. The storyline for our narrative follows the love story of a young couple. In the beginning of the video they have a disputed between them just like every couple does and then it is noticeable from the protagonist's expressions and body language that they both miss each other as they are completely infatuated with each other and then at the end of the song in the last build up of the chorus, Mark (the male protagonist of the relationship) is seen running to Faye (the female protagonist of the relationship), in a mid-pan shot,  to make up with her. In the end, the audience will see them after they have made up and it finishes with a happy ending. The target audience that we have selected for our music video will be able to relate to the video in some way and they will be intrigued to watch it right from the very start.
5. The performance shots and footage will be filmed in the Landau recording studio and also on set in some of the other scenes such as the park scene where Faye is walking towards the camera and also the scene at the start when she has just left Mark's house after their argument.
   

When  I had finished the first draft of my music video in the early stages, it was exported off of the Apple Mac and it was imported onto YouTube. In the lesson that followed, the whole class sat round the front table and they all watched my music video. A questionnaire was created that they could fill out during the second time of watching the video as the first time was to purely just sit and watch the video. The feedback that was given from my peers was very useful when it came to me being able to make improvements to my music video. The common improvements were that i needed to re-film the bench scene with both Faye and Mark there on the same day due to the fact that it had been filmed on two different days and that made it impossible to fit when it came to the editing.

In addition to this, the video also appeared to be very blurry to begin with so i had to go back to the video and edit it to sharper and therefore, clear up the picture so that it was easier for the students to watch and to see what was happening in the video. Furthermore, they advised me to change a couple of the shots as they were similar in having Faye walking in front or towards the camera so to improve this, i filmed a few more scenes in the studio at Landau with Faye singing the song in front of the microphone. I added a range of shots for this including a close up and then a zoom showing Faye's lips singing the song and therefore personalizing the video even more to her as she was acting as the artist for it.

Moreover, after much research and consideration, i produced my first drafts of my print products - CD cover, digipak and magazine advertisement. The same process was repeated and the students sat round the table at the front of the class and were handed a copy of my print products to look at them and give me improvements to do if they found any. From their feedback, it became apparent that my CD cover looked very similar to Adele's 21 album cover (whom i had looked at during my research) and also, there was lots of 'dead space' on the front cover of the CD. Following this, i went back onto Photoshop and i carried on creating different edits for my print products in order to get them to a high standard and make them unique to my music video. To eliminate the high amount of dead space that there was on the CD's front cover, i filled some of it with adding the artist's name and also the title of the song was changed into a larger size to take up some of the room. The picture that is on the front cover of the CD is a mid/long shot of Faye when she is walking towards the camera in the music video. I used this shot as it shows a full shot of Faye so it would stand out to people who would buy the CD, the artist is distinguishable from the front cover straight away when you see it and also they would recognize her as it is a shot from the video itself. Afterwards, the same process happened for a final time and this time, they helped me decide on my final pieces.

Task 13: Evaluation Question 2

Question 2: 
 
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

When starting my A2 media production I knew that I needed to make both a music video and an album cover, digipak and magazine advertisement to go with it. This meant that even from the research and planning stages of my video I had to consider what I wanted in my print artifacts as to make the two products link together.

My main product had a target audience of teenagers and young adults (15-25). To make my overall product appealing to that target audience I needed to ensure that not only my main product was aimed at that age range but also my print artifacts. To do this I knew that I needed to create synergy between the production and artifacts. The main way that I appealed to my audience with my video was the young actors and genre of music. Therefore when I came to making my artifacts these were the aspects that I tried to illuminate most. I researched other artists that people between 15 and 25 listened to and found that these artists were mainly singers such as Adele, Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne etc. All of these artists have a similar style of music to Phoebe Ryan so I thought that looking at their videos and artifacts would help me with my products. Throughout my research I found that most of the artists had a picture of them as their album cover- usually a close up. I thought that this would be a good feature to include in my own cover as it allows the audience to know straight away who the album is by. I found that other artists that have been in the music industry longer such as Coldplay didn't need a picture of themselves as the album cover as most fans have liked them for a while and know the artists logo or are already aware of the album. 

In addition to this, I wanted to make sure that my overall product appealed to both genders which is why my video had male and female protagonists within it. To make my print products gender-neutral I decided that a black and white theme would be the best option with hints of colour to make the key features stand out. My CD cover, digipak and advert all incorporated this theme. I decided against using black and white in the video as I didn't think it was needed. The other videos that I researched which used black and white shots were Ed Sheeran's 'A Team' and Adele's 'Hello' both of which are quite slow, sad songs. I didn't think that the actual song 'Mine' or the narrative for my video  was as downcast  as the other songs so I didn't feel as though the colour scheme would work. I also tried to include both protagonists in every picture for my ancillary texts and achieved this with the exception of the front of the album cover. I believe that if it is obvious to an audience that actors of both genders were used then it would appeal to a male audience too. 

I did however, use the same title and font in both my print products and main production. In my digipak, album cover and the title for the video I ensured that the black and white theme was kept for the font and that the title was exactly the same size, font and colour. I wanted to do this to make sure that my overall product would be recognizable and link together. My advert did have a slight change to it compared to the other print products. I used a pale pink glow rather than a black or white one. I did this because there would have been little colour on the advert otherwise and I felt that It helped the main text to stand out. It also links to my CD cover in which Faye is wearing a pink and white top. 

I decided to use different pictures on each ancillary text (apart from the small picture of the album cover featured on the magazine). I believe that this was a good decision because it allows the audience to gain more knowledge about the video and want to watch it more. Otherwise, they might get bored with the same picture being used over and over again and the video isn't advertised as well. I used one outtake and all of the other pictures are taken out of the video. I thought this was vital because again it advertises the video but also gives hints to the narrative. I wanted to use one picture that was not in the video to give the audience something new if they were to buy the album. 

I used Photoshop to make all of my print products and word to present them. I used Photoshop mainly when changing parts of my pictures to colour while leaving other parts black and white. I also used Word when making small changes to my products such as adding in writing and logos and finally to present my different ideas in order to receive audience feedback. When creating my video I used Premier Pro, this enabled me to edit my video effectively and confidently as I had used it before. When I needed to take screenshots from my video for my ancillary texts I found the mac's helpful as the screenshots saved as an image on the desktop so were easy to transfer from Premier Pro to Photoshop. In addition to this, I wanted the title at the start of my video to be the same as the one on my album cover, Word and Premier Pro both had the same font, text sizes and effects for writing so I felt that I could create synergy between my products easily and effectively.  

Task 13: Evaluation Question 1

Question 1:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Ed Sheeran - The A Team - Narrative
Adele - Hello - 21 (CD cover)
Birdy - Skinny Love - Style of music
Jess Glynne - Take Me Home - Performance
Phoebe Ryan - Mine
James Bay - performance - Let It Go

Options: 

• Bastille
• Ed Sheeran
• Birdy
• Jess Glynne
• Phoebe Ryan

Others:

• Lady Gaga - Paparazzi & Bad Romance (How the narrative of the video can be viewed in two different ways)
• Bad Romance - Prostitution/Women being seen as property
• Paparazzi - How fame & money can change people. The guy is with her just for her money, there are no feelings there.
• Johnny Cash - Hurt (Style of music)
• Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman (Music video & lyrics)
• Madonna - Like A Prayer

  

Before i started creating my music video, i had to carry out hours of research into real media products so that i was able to come to a conclusion on what i wanted to do for my video. During this time, i researched many artists such as Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne, Birdy, Bastille and Phoebe Ryan. Phoebe Ryan is an American singer songwriter who first attracted me to her music when i discovered her cover mash-up of R.Kelly's 'Ignition' and Miguel's 'Do You Like Drugs?' on YouTube. After listening to this, i listened to more of her music, for example, her single 'Mine' which i really liked as it is similar to songs that Ed Sheeran has done, however, because she is not a well known artist it is highly unlikely no one would know it so it would bring them something new to listen to.

I had to then decide on what category i wanted my music video to fall into, whether i wanted it to be Narrative, Performance or Abstract based or more than one. I chose to have it both narrative and performance based like in Sam Smith's video for Lay Me Down (shown below) Where you see him performing the song but he is also acting as the main character at a funeral in the narrative.

Narrative:

In my music video i decided to have a narrative which follows the love story of a young teenage couple. Due to the fact that my target audience is young teenagers and young adults aged 15-25, the majority of them might be able to relate to the narrative of the video or enjoy the music genre of it and therefore, would be more likely to want to watch the video. The video shows a close up of Faye's face in the beginning so that the audience can become familiar with the main character. Her eyes are closed in the close up and after a couple of beats with the music, they open. This creates mystery for the audience and will prompt them to watch the rest of the video from feeling intrigued. Throughout the video there are many mid shots of both Faye and Mark to show their body language to the viewer. When they have both fallen out at the start, their body language conveys a weak posture which shows them being upset about what has happened. Then, towards the end of the video, it builds up and they appear to become happier. Finally at the end of the video, they are seen walking towards the camera in a forward tracking shot and they are holding hands showing the audience that they have resolved their issue.

 

Performance:

For the performance aspect of my music video, i managed to book the recording studio of Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form so that i could film Faye miming the song into the microphone using a range of shots such as; close up, zoom and high shot. This is similar to some of Ed Sheeran's videos where he is seen being in a recording studio when he was actually recording the songs.By doing this, it personalizes the song to the artist who is singing it. I will show the audience that even the biggest of starts like Ed Sheeran have to go through the long process of being in the recording studios, they have to put all of the hard work in too and they do not just get everything handed to them on a plate if they are a serious artist. 

Similarly, by having the studio as one of the locations for my artist Faye, it makes the video more personalized to her and therefore it will attract a wider range of audiences seeing as the actual artist, Phoebe Ryan, has written and produced her single 'Mine' all by herself.

Script:

For my media production I did a lot of initial research into existing music videos to gain an overview of the products in general and to give me ideas ton what my video should look like.

To begin with I researched the different types of videos that I could create and looked at the  history behind music videos. This included research into Metz and applying his theory to the different types of music videos. After researching the three main genres of music video (abstract, performance and narrative) and looking into products such as Gotye's 'somebody that I used to know', Jess Glynne and Clean Bandit's 'Real Love', Ed Sheeran's 'The A Team' and Maroon 5's 'Sugar' and how each product represented a different type of video I decided to make a performance and narrative based video. Once I had made my choice I looked into the main features of these types of videos. 
 

Performance

The performance aspect of a video can include the protagonist singing in various locations: either in the studio, on stage (usually at a concert) or as part of the narrative. I chose to show Faye singing in both the studio and on location because I thought that it would add variety to the video and make it more interesting. When I had looked at previous students work I liked that they used the studio because it made the video look more realistic. In addition to this, the singing as part of the narrative allowed me to emphasize how the narrative fitted the lyrics of the song. Many of the other performance based videos I looked into included  musical instruments being used when the protagonist was singing (Real Love). I challenged this because I did not think my video would need this aspect added into it as it could be seen as a distraction. Also, the only instrument I would have considered using would be a piano but because I was using an up beat song I didn't think that it would fit. 
 

Narrative 

In most videos the narrative links in with the lyrics as seen in 'The A Team'  by Ed Sheeran. Because of this I analyzed the lyrics of 'Mine' before I had decided upon a set narrative. In addition to this, I realized that most narratives are much like a film, there is generally a problem or issue that is resolved. For example in 'The A Team' the issue relates to drugs, in 'Hello' by Adele it is about a break up. I decided that I would conform to this by making my narrative about a couple arguing and making up. I did however, challenge the conventions of narrative in other ways as I didn't focus on just the protagonist as most videos do- I had two protagonists one of which sang. In videos such as 'The A Team', 'Let it Go', 'Bad Romance' and 'Hurt' there is only the one protagonist (usually the singer). The only product that I researched with a similar narrative to 'Mine' was 'Paparazzi' by Lady Gaga which similarly focused on two main protagonists. However, my problem/issue was very different to Gaga's and the overall narrative was again different. 
 

Shots & Mise- en- scene 

My video also conformed to other media products due to the shots I used. As you see in the original video for 'Mine' many short clips/shots are used at the beginning of the video and they are usually cut to the beat. I did this with my video because I thought it would make it look authentic. However, when the lyrics started I used a long tracking shot with Faye looking directly at the camera and singing. From the products I have researched there are not many shots like this but despite this I thought it was a useful shot as it allows the viewer to connect with the protagonist from the start. 

I didn't use any specialist make up or costumes for the video like most other products do (mainly Lady Gaga) because I didn't feel that there was any need. Faye and Mark both wore their own clothes but I did ask them to wear the same clothes if we were shooting on different days for continuity. I thought that the protagonist in 'The A team' wore clothes similar to what I wanted in my video, they looked natural and fit the narrative. 

Task 12: Audience feedback

After the completion of my first draft for my music video, it then had to be uploaded to YouTube so that it could be assessed by my teacher. In addition to this, i was able to have the whole class watch it and then fill out a questionnaire form with what was good in it and the improvements that can be made. I discovered from the feedback that i was given that one of the shots (the mid-shot where Faye and Mark are both sitting on the bench but Faye imagines that Mark is there when he actually is not) did not work and the editing was very basic due to the fact that i had filmed them both being on that same bench over two different days because they were not available on the same day together. As a result of this, the two videos did not overlap properly so you could tell that the camera had moved and it was not fluent in the video. To fix this, i arranged to go out on another day and film that shot again but this time with Faye and Mark together to ensure continuity of the shot. 

My final music video was then watched by the whole class with minor improvements that were suggested to be made. They also looked at my print artifacts that i had created and they replied saying that they looked too similar to ones Adele had had previously, and i should adapt them so that they are individual and unique to me and my project. I changed the front cover of the CD from a close up of Faye (which looked similar to Adele's album '21') to a long shot of Faye walking towards the camera.

1. Is our narrative clear? If so does it fit the video?
2. Which camera shots are the best that we have used? Which are the worst?
3. Have we made good use of the facilities on premier pro?
4. Do you think our music video suits our target audience? If yes, how?
5. Is the lip syncing in time with the artist?
6. What is your favourite scene in the video?
7. Is there any way in which we could improve the video? What could we do?

Their answers were as follows;

1. My peers said that my narrative was clear.
2. They said that the camera shots that are at the start of the video are the best including the close up of Faye (the very first shot) and then the mid shot where she is walking towards the camera in a forwards tracking shot. The worst shot was one of the shots towards the end of the video where Faye was walking towards the camera in one shot and then she appears in a different place in the next transitioning shot so it is not continuous as it should be.
3. Apparently, we have made good use of the facilities on Premiere Pro however, we could have done our editing in a more sophisticated way so that it looks like a proper recorded music video that would be released.
4. Our peers said that our music video does suit the target audience that we have chosen (young adults aged 15-25) because we selected young actors for the narrative.
5. The majority of the lip syncing is in time with the artist however, there are a couple of times when it is just out slightly but this is not an issue as it is the same in some music videos that are released.
6. Their favourite scene in the video was when Mark runs up to Faye and then they make up three quarters of the way through the video. This is their favourite because it is when the audience can see that there will be a happy ending to the storyline.
7. A way in which they suggested that we could improve the video would be to re-record some of the shots as they are a bit shaky. In addition to this, the narrative could also be tidied up and the footage that was recorded at night, should have been recorded in the day time to ensure high key lighting instead of the poor key lighting that is present in the video.

Task 12: First draft of my music video - Mine.

Above is my first official draft of my music video - Mine. Some of the shots included in the scenes within the video need editing. For example, the very first close-up shot of the artist, Faye, was taken in low key lighting meaning that it will need to be edited in order to brighten the image. In addition to this, I need to re-film the two shots in on of the scenes as they do not overlap with each other. In this scene, Faye is sitting on a bench in the park and she is thinking about Mark sitting next to her like he used to. The shots should overlap so that you can completely see Faye but Mark is vaguely there. When I originally filmed this scene, I had to do it on two different days due to the fact that Faye was available to film but Mark was not. Because of this, it meant that when I went back to film the same scene but with Mark, the camera was placed in a different place at a different angle so then when it came to editing, the two shots did not fit together. 

 

I recorded some of the parts for the video in the recording studio at Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form. I did this so that the video is performance based and also follows the narrative which I have created. It is similar to some of Ed Sheeran's videos where he is singing and performing the song. 

For this first draft of my music video, there are a lot of shots of just Faye walking towards the camera, which can be a good aspect to have as it personalizes the video to that artist, however, in my next draft I will have to include a wider variety of shots to make sure that they are not all the same or similar to one another.

 

Task 12: Music Video Feedback

Most of the shots are now completed and edited so that Faye's lip syncing fits in with the music. We have also incorporated a wide range of camera shots and angles which we then had to fit them all together to ensure continuity. For example, so that it didn't break the 180 degree rule. 
   
Re-film scene of Faye and Mark sitting on the bench in the park. After this, it then needs to be edited so that it looks like Faye is sitting there and she is imagining Mark sitting beside her.

• Film and edit other shots such as Mark's running shot when he is running towards Faye (pan) & Faye singing. 
• Finish editing of the video so that it is completed to the deadline - Christmas. Edit some of the shots to enhance the brightness and sharpness.
•  Ensure that the video's speed fits in with the music. 

Questions:

1.  Is our narrative clear? If yes, does it fit the video?
2.  Which camera shots are the best that we have used? Which are the worst?
3.  Do you think our music video suits our target audience? If yes, how?
4.  Have we made good use of the facilities on Premiere Pro? How?
5.   What is your favourite scene in the video?
6.  Is there anywhere we could improve? 

 3/12/2015 - We re-filmed the bench shot and also the close up of Faye's face which is similar to the one at the very beginning of the video. Following this, we had to then edit these shots to fit them in with the music and the rest of the video.

After asking the above questions, I received the following answers as a whole;

1. Yes our narrative is clear and it also does fit with the music and the music's lyrics.
2. The best camera shots that we have used include; the close up of Faye singing and also when she is walking down the path towards the camera. In addition to this, there is the shot where Mark is holding Faye's hand and taking her with him (point of view shot).
3. Yes, the music video suits the target audience as the actors in it are of the same ages as the majority that would be watching it.
4. The video includes good use of the facilities on Premiere Pro however, the bench scene with Faye and Mark needs to be re-recorded and re-edited due to the fact that it was filmed on two different days and so doesn't fit together.
5. Favourite scene in the video is the one where Faye has just left Mark's house and is walking away from him and towards the camera. This shot was completed using a dolly crane so that the camera was able to move with ease.
6. Re-film some of the scenes such as the bench scene, one of the close-ups of Faye and to record some more shots of her in the recording studio at Landau and also some of her and Mark.

Task 11: Final print artefacts & possible artefacts

Above is one my examples for a CD cover for my music video's single (Black & White)...

Below is the digipack to match the CD cover (Black & White)...

 

For this CD cover and digipak, I gained the inspiration from Adele's 21 album cover. It has a close up shot of Adele's face with her eyes closed similar to the one that I have on my CD cover shown above where Faye has her eyes closed in the close up of her. The only text that I have on the page is at the bottom and it is the album and single's title 'Mine.' in big, bold letters. This means that when the public would see the album, they would recognize the artist straight away from the close up image and then they would be able to know straight away what the album is called.  The digipak includes three images of Faye and Mark and also the necklace. In the video, the necklace is a highly symbolic object for the young couple and due to the fact that it has a heart pendant on it, this highlights the character's love for one another. The first image of Faye and Mark is a mid shot showing them looking at each other. This would be recognized from the video as it is when they first see each other after their dispute at the beginning of the video and also when they make amends. The last picture is a separate shot that I took when we carried out the filming for the bench scene in the video. This picture adds a sense of humor to the single and also conveys the couple's relationship and the artists individual personality.

Coloured version...

This version of the CD's cover and digipak is exactly the same as the above however, it is in colour instead of black and white. I have used Photoshop on these images in order to brighten them and enhance them to show their full potential for being the final pieces.

 

Overlapping 2 images cover...

For this CD cover, I used Photoshop again to edit the CD cover's front page where I overlapped two images; one image of Faye walking towards the camera whilst singing and holding the necklace that Mark gave her and the second is the very first shot of the video where there is a close up shot of Faye's face with her eyes closed before she opens them. For the back image, I edited this using the editing feature on Microsoft Word. I selected the image and then used the fading tool to dull the image down slightly and the same was done with the digipak.

Matching digipack...

Below is the poster that I have made in order to promote my music video to gain a wider range of audiences;

Poster...

To make this poster, I used a mixture of both Photoshop and Microsoft Word. I edited the image on Photoshop where I gave it a black and white filter. Following this, I then imported the image of the CD into Photoshop so that then I could overlap it onto the poster. This was done so that it promotes the artist's CD as well as the single. As the poster's picture and the CD cover both have the black and white filter, I edited the text of the poster on Microsoft Word so that it has a pale pink glow behind it. This adds some warmth to the poster and brightens it up/makes it stand out more to the targeted audience and also any other people that will see it. 

Digipak...

The digipak that I have created for my artist's CD has the same three pictures on it as shown in the example which is shown above in black and white. I used Photoshop to add the text (lyrics to the song) on top of the images for the digipak and then I imported the digipak into Microsoft Word so that I could use its photo editing software to fade the images slightly so that they will not be too bright to see and therefore distract the viewer from looking at the CD and just looking at the digipak.

 

CD cover...

This will be my final CD cover however there are a couple of things that I am going to alter and adapt. For example, I am going to shrink Faye down so that she is more central within the front page of the CD cover. Furthermore, as I have the title of the song/album in the bottom left corner of the picture, there is a lot of dead space at the top of the image so for my final draft, I am going to include the artist's name in the top right-hand corner of the picture to compensate for some of the dead space. 

Final CD cover...

For the final CD cover for my artist, i have included the artist's name in the top right-hand corner of the front page of the CD. The reason that I have done this is because I had changed the front image from a close up picture of Faye (the artist), to a long/wide shot which has been taken from the video where she is walking towards the camera holding the necklace that Mark had gave her. Due to this, it means that as an artist, she might not be as recognizable as before so therefore, it will help the audience distinguish who she is by having her name on the CD's cover. The images have been edited using Photoshop to keep the backgrounds in the black and white filter and then Faye on the front page and Faye and Mark on the back page are both in colour to help them stand out to the audience. In addition to this, the name of the artist's single and album is still in the bottom left corner of the front page of the CD cover so that they can see what it is called straight away. Furthermore, they may have already heard of the single and its album due to the promotion that it will have had both online and from the CD's poster.

Task 11: Create print artefacts (CD cover design)

 Here is my first design for a CD cover which I drew. It is a rough sketch but gives the impression of a close up shot of Faye, the singer and protagonist, on the front with her eyes closed and a wide shot of Faye and Mark on the back of the cover holding hands. The image on the front is going to be the very first shot of the actual music video so it is something that people would recognize if they saw the CD in a shop. As it is a close up image, it will attract people to go and have a look at it rather than being an image with lots of different things on it that would confuse people. The image on the back of the cover would be of Faye and Mark holding hands walking through the castle grounds, as shown at the end of the video when they have made up. The sun is out creating a sense of pathetic fallacy between them due to the fact that they are now both happy in the end. 

I have carried out a lot of research into different artists and their single CD covers. Below are a couple that I have designed as ideas for my final design...

Here is my first design of a CD cover. It is fairly basic with the plain blue background and the simple picture on the front. From looking at a lot of CD covers, it has helped me with what to actually put on the cover such as the main picture on the front and then the track list on the back along with a bar code and a title on the spine. Furthermore, the image of the girl is as she is looking down, this is going to be the same as the first shot of the video with Faye looking down before she opens her eyes and begins to sing.

As you can see from the above idea for a CD cover, I have looked at Rihanna's Loud album cover. The reason that I have looked at this particular album is because I like the idea of having a close up of my artist, Faye's face as the front cover and then just having the single/album's name at the bottom of the page. A similar cover to this is Adele's album '21', which I am also going to research.The back page of the CD cover, is just a pale pink background which i found off of Google. It is a good idea to have a simple background so then the text is clear to see for the other tracks that are also on the CD and it also does not take away the attention from the artist.

Task 11: Completed CD cover design

For the final cover for my CD, I used Photoshop to edit the front image and the back image also. Both images are in a black and white filter and then I have cut around Faye on the front picture and Faye and Mark on the back picture to keep them in colour with the rest of the background in black and white. This means that they will stand out to the targeted audience in the contrasting pictures. For the text, I also used Photoshop to insert the text on the front page, the spine and the back page. The font that I have used is called 'Noteworthy - bold'. The reason that I have chosen to use this particular font is because it is clear to see and therefore, easy to read. On the front cover, I have included the title of the single which is also the title of the album - 'Mine.', and the artist's name - Faye Stockley. On the spine of the album, I have added the artists name and also the name of the single/album. Finally, on the back cover of the album, I have included the text for the track list (which tracks are on the album as well as the single), and the logo for Apple's iTunes to make the audience aware that they can also download it from there if they would prefer to rather than buying the CD.  

Task 11: Final Music Video

Task 10: Filming (Creative Journey)

21/10/2015 - production schedule:

02/11/2015 - castle grounds:

Today I have carried out the majority of the filming that I needed to do on location in Tamworth's Castle Grounds. The scenes that I have filmed include; the scenes with Faye walking towards the camera for example when she is walking down the long path in a mid/long shot and she is holding the necklace and singing at the same time. Also, the scenes where Faye and Mark make up after he has chased after her and then the ending of the video where they both walk over the bridge holding hands. This finishes the song with a happy ending to the narrative.

20/11/2015 - bench scene and recording studio shot was missing:

After filming on the 2nd November 2015, I discovered that one of the studio shots that I had planned to incorporate into my music video had not been done;. Because of this, I arranged to meet up on this day (20/11/2015) with Faye and Mark so that Victoria and myself could film some extra scenes in the recording studio at Landau so that we would have extra ones if we needed them. In addition to this, when it came to editing in the last lesson, I discovered that the videos for the bench scene did not fit together as they were filmed on two completely different days meaning that the camera had changed positions. So, to fix this issue, on this day, I have also re-filmed the bench scene ready for it to be edited correctly in the following lesson.  

05/12/2015 - finished filming and re-filming scenes:

Today I have re-filmed one of the scenes where Faye is singing into the microphone in the studio. My reasoning for re-filming this scene is due to the fact that she is miming the song and when I was editing the videos, I found that her miming did not quite fit in time with the music track and I knew that the audience would pick up on this therefore it was best to just re-film that scene. I have now finished all of my filming for my music video for my A2 media coursework and now in the following lesson, I will be able to properly begin the editing for my music video using Adobe Premiere Pro on the Apple Mac P.C.

19/12/2015 - editing:

In this lesson, I have completed the majority of the editing for my music video. I have imported the music track - Phoebe Ryan's 'Mine' - into the editing software. Once this was imported, I had to keep the audio and then delete her video for the single. This is so that I could edit my videos and then just have the audio over the top of them playing in the background. Most of the video footage that I had filmed had to be cropped so that when it was all put together, it would fit in with the length of the music track and not run over or finish before the song had finished. After cropping the videos, it was then up to me to arrange all of the videos so that they comply with the storyboard that I had created in the research and planning stage before I even began filming. Furthermore, I had to move some of the videos where Faye was miming the song so that as she is miming it, the lyrics are playing in the background with the track. The reason I had to match it all up was so that it followed the song and fit with the continuity aspects of a music video so that it looks like the artist is actually singing at that present time in the video live and it has not been recorded beforehand in a studio.

Completion of editing: I have completed all of my filming for my A2 music video to the track 'Mine' by the artist Phoebe Ryan, which I needed to do in order to be able to start editing and putting it all together. I had to film in 2 different locations that include; Landau's recording studio, Tamworth's Castle Grounds. Even though our coursework piece does not require a script, we still had to research, plan and put together a storyline because we decided to do one that was both narrative and performance based. For this, Faye, the actress, is mainly singing in the recording studio but also when she is in role, she will sing the odd line of the song in order to combine all of the video together and to not leave it separated.