Introduction


Introduction:

My name is Ella Budgett and my candidate number is 8120. The other two candidates I am with in Group 1 are Eleanor Lynch (8450) and Pru Carter-Phillips (8128). Our group photo can be seen on the right. To see my portfolio evidence, please click on the three labels on the right named A2 Research and Planning, A2 Construction, and A2 Evaluation.

MiraJax Best Be Believing Music Video

MiraJax Best Be Believing Music Video:

MiraJax- Best Be Believing

Front and Back Digipak

Front and Back Digipak
Front and Back Digipak

Inside Digipak

Inside Digipak
Inside Digipak


Please click this image to enter out site

Tuesday 13 December 2016

Construction Post 6: Website Post-Production

We created our website on a website called 'Wix' which proved to be quite challenging because it was really slow and often crashed. However, it allowed us to create all the pages we wanted and put in lots of interactivity opportunities.

The pages we have are:

- Home
- Tour
- Videos + Photos
- Shop
- News

We found a template that had all of these pages and so we used this as our starting point for our website, but changing the layout and images as we went along.

Wix templates

HOME PAGE

For our home page, after doing some research of other artist websites, we decided we wanted to have three sliding pages which promoted our duo in different ways.

Landing Page 1

On the first landing page, the debut album is being promoted and there is an iTunes image that links the viewer to the iTunes store page allowing for interactivity.

Landing Page 2

On the second landing page, there is an image of Mira and Jack at 'God's Own Junkyard' showing the lights behind them to keep to to motif of lights.

Landing Page 3

On the third landing page, there is an image of Mira and Jack with our Instagram feed next to them, allowing for the viewer to keep up to date with MiraJax's social media.

Throughout all of these pages, the logo remains the same and serves as a synergistic device as it can be found on our digipak too. We made this logo on Photoshop by using the line tool and the paint bucket tool. The idea behind the logo stems from the universal boy and girl signs as the duo is made up of both genders, but instead we used their initials and intertwined them. Originally the 'M' was pink and the 'J' was blue, to further emphasise the genders, however, this clashed with the colours on our website, so we changed it to neutral colours of grey and white.

Original logo
Line tool
Paint bucket tool


Along the side of each page we have social media icons which link directly to MiraJax's social media pages, allowing the viewers to see whats going on and keep up to date with new releases and exclusive information.





TOUR PAGE

This page shows the tour dates that MiraJax are playing in the UK and which venues they will be playing in. We wanted to create a live link to the TicketMaster website to allow the viewer purchasing opportunities. To do this, we had to add a link to the TicketMaster that I uploaded to the page.

 It was quite simple to do this. We went on the TicketMaster page and copied the URL and then on the Wix website there is link settings option in which we pasted the URL. We want our audience to have as many opportunities to engage with out artist as possible.

Also on the tour page there is the chance to listen to the new track 'Best Be Believing' before seeing the video itself. Originally this started playing as soon as someone entered the site but after receiving audience feedback, we understood that this was annoying to some people and they wanted to have the control of whether to play the music or not. So now, they have to click the play button in order to hear it.


VIDEOS + PHOTOS PAGE

On this page, the audience can find our 'Best be Believing' video and behind the scenes footage, as well as all our promo shots both in studio and on location. We wanted to incorporate a behind the scenes video to allow the audience to feel like they have insight into the Mira and Jack's lives and to get them excited for the video and tour dates.

Our behind the scenes video

For the photos section, we wanted to allow the images to be enlarged so that the viewer could see them in more detail. To do this on Wix, we had to go to photo settings and choose the option for the photo to pop up.

Photo settings

SHOP PAGE

For our merchandise, we decided to offer canvas bags and jumpers as these are popular amongst our target audience. We edited promo shots onto them of Mira and Jack together and individually. This page was another good chance to offer purchasing opportunities to our audience as they can buy the merchandise from our website.

Shop page

Originally, we had just made a live link to the PayPal page when the viewer clicked the merchandise, but after receiving teacher feedback, we were advised to actually create a purchasing process and a cart for the items. So now, if the viewer clicks on the image, it takes them to a quick view page of the item which then can then add to their cart and pay for via PayPal. 





Quick view for item.





Cart for item.










For the background of our shop page, we wanted to use a moving image and so we took shots from our rushes that we didn't use and merged them with cross dissolves. This make the page more engaging and exciting.

Background for website

NEWS PAGE

This page was difficult to add because it wasn't a part of the template that we used and so we had to put in a link that opened up another page.


We animated the text for this link so that it is visible to the viewer and draws attention to it, enticing them to click the link and see upcoming events and news for MiraJax.

 A couple of the things on our news page are the promotion for our new video and a competition for our fans. The competition allows for the audience to get involved with the artist and feel like they can be a part of something. This interactive opportunity adds excitement to our website and means that our fans feel like they are appreciated.

Ultimately, our website allows for lots of different involvement for our our audience and shows MiraJax to be relatable and reachable by our audience.

Construction Post 5: Digipak Post-Production

For our digipak, each group was given the same template for Photoshop in which we could edit our designs. The green area was the space we had to use and we had to make sure not to extend beyond the red area.

Photoshop template



Front Panel


The two photos that we used for our front panel are from the promo shots we took up in the studio of just mine and Jack's face.


We had to then edit these photos on Photopshop by using the quick selection tool to delete the background and the refine edge tool to smooth around our skin and hair and make the images look natural. After this, we used the skin smoothing tool to erase any blemishes and the brightness adjuster tool to make our eyes stand out as this is what most people will first look at.

For the front panel we used a background photo form our location promo shots at 'God's Own Junkyard' which then stretched over onto the back panel as well.

Background photo for front and back panels

To edit this photo we mainly used the colour balance tool on Photoshop in order to change the colours and make the photo our own. We also played around with the saturation of the colours to make certain aspects stand out.

Colour balance tool

On the front, we followed the conventions of what an album cover should have and the main ones are to have the artist name in big bold writing at the top, followed by the album name in smaller writing. 

Front panel text

The text has a pink glow around it which is meant to be represent neon lighting, which is major synergistic element throughout or marketing and branding. We chose the album name 'Illuminum' as a play on the word 'illuminate' to further draw attention to the light symbolism. Our audience feedback told us that the reoccurring theme of lights is something that they liked and was an original idea that they hadn't seen another artist use.

When finally editing the two photos of our faces together, we had planned to have two thirds of Mira's face and only a third of Jack's face showing. However, when we received teacher feedback we were told that Jack's face looked squashed and therefore the front panel didn't look right. So we decided to change this and show two thirds of both of their faces with a split screen line between the middle which is synergistic with our music video.

Our final front panel


Back Panel


For the back panel, we were originally going to use the two faces idea again but then realised this looked too repetitive and boring so instead we used a different promo shot that we also took in the studio.

The two that we were deciding between can be seen on the left and right here. We thought the one of Mira had more of her back showing so that we could do a tattoo design for the song titles, but when we looked back the shot we realised there wasn't enough space. Also, we want to promote the Jack as equally important to Mira within the duo and so decided that a photo of both of them was more appropriate. We ended up using the one of them on the sofa, as seen on the right.

We then had to edit out the background and smooth the edges of the photo using the same tools as on the front panel so that when we put over the background image it didn't look like it had obviously been edited. We also used the adjustment tool to make the colours richer and to ensure that the photo was stand out against the background.

Level adjust tool

Our final back panel shows the combination of the background photo that also stretched out onto the front panel, and the sofa photo on top. We then put text with a black box around them for our song titles to make them clear and easy to read. The conventions of a back panel album cover are that there should be a barcode, web address, institution names and logo. We incorporated all of these into our final product.

Back panel
Final front and back panels

Inside Panels


For our inside panels, we used the idea again of having one image stretched across both panels. We wanted to use a photo from our location promo shots at 'God's Own Junkyard' so that this could be the main motif four our album cover. 

The photo we decided to use

We had to then edit this photo so that the colours were more vibrant, making the image look less flat. Also, the right inside panel is where the cd will go, so we need to flip the image so that Jack and I were on the left and wouldn't be covered by the cd. 

Final edited photo for inside panels

The edited photo shows the difference between the Union Jack's and the the lights behind us. They are clearly brighter and more refined which makes the photo look brighter and more spirited. Once our final digipak was made, we asked for some further audience and teacher feedback with both parties reassuring us that they really liked our ideas.

Construction Post 4: Music Video Post-Production

Having filmed all our shots for the video, we took to the edit suites to start editing our rushes together; we used Adobe Premiere Pro to do this. The main focuses for editing were; showing a coherent narrative story line, different paced cuts to add variety and finally grading each shot to make them more vibrant and clear. As a group we all worked on this together for many editing sessions to make it the best it could be.

Coherent story line

In the narrative, we wanted to show the unfolding of an argument between the duo, Mira and Jack, before showing Jack's journey through London to find Mira after she stormed out the house. A text message is sent by Jack and they eventually make up when he finds Mira sat on some steps. To show this journey, we wanted to use a split screen so that it was clear to the audience that Jack was in the process of finding Mira and going to all the same places as her.

GIF of narrative rough cut
In the rough cut, we used a split screen for the train journey only and then for the rest of  narrative it was single shots for each person. This however didn't allow for the story line to flow and make sense.

GIF of split screen on the train
When we spoke to our target audience about what it is they liked about the narrative in our main shoot, something that kept being said was that it was easy to follow and understand due to the split screen. They seemed to like the progression of the story and it was satisfying in the end when Mira and Jack made up.

Fast and slow pace editing 


Using different paces when editing is something I thought was very important because it ensures that the video isn't boring and repetitive. We wanted to use fast paced cuts for the jumpy rhythm at the beginning of the song and in the chorus. It was difficult to make this editing fit the beat, however, it looks very effective. When we asked for teacher feed back, we were advised to change the visuals when the song reaches its bridge and so for this we used slow paced editing as a way of visually showing change to match the song.

Editing on the beat - faster pace
Visual change - slower pace

During the bridge we also used cross dissolves between myself and Jack's face to serve as another visual change. In order to make the dissolve look effective we had to match the positioning and size of our faces. The image below shows where to find the tool on Adobe Premiere Pro.




To the right is an image that shows where we added the tool on our main shoot sequence.








To the left is an image that captures the moment the cross dissolve occurs.

Grading our shots

Grading is a key part of making a music video because it allows for the shots to stand out and can make the lighting look more vibrant if you couldn't get it how you wanted when actually filming in the studio.


At first we used the three way colour correction tool on Adobe Premiere Pro to try make our shots more visually pleasing but it was difficult to use because it changed colours that we didn't want it to such as shadows and skin colour. It also didn't make the background colours as powerful and pigmented as we were hoping for.


Instead, after receiving teacher feedback that confirmed our negative view on the original grading, we decided to use levels and brightness and contrast in order to grade our shots. These tools were much more effective and gave us the effect we wanted.


Below are two pictures of the same image but one with our final grading and one without. The difference between them can be seen mainly by the two shades of pink in the background. Despite the difference seeming quite small, it impacts our video hugely as the visuals are now more engaging and I stand out more, rather than the image looking flat.


Non graded image
Graded image

All of the things mentioned above are some of the most important things we had to think about when editing our video in post production in order for it to make sense and look aesthetically pleasing to the audience. We are pleased with our final product and feel happy that we have learnt from both the rough cut and teacher and audience feedback.

Construction Post 3: Week 3 Production

This is the week starting the 21st November and is the week we filmed our music video using the schedule below.



MUSIC VIDEO

Everyday of the week our group would be up in the Seward Studio filming for our music video and would sometimes have to get in early in order to set up the lighting and props for the day. Originally, Eleanor was supposed to be performing in studio shots but due to medical reasons she was unable to and so I had to perform in her place. This led to some issues arising as I had not practiced the lip sync and needed to find outfits that fit me. However, we resolved this quickly as I had suitable outfits at home and learnt all the lyrics in my spare time.

Monday

On this day we decided to do our most simple set up which was the white one as it didn't require coloured lighting or fancy make-up. Eleanor prepared the set up for this day by blowing up balloons and setting out the boxes that I was able to sit on. We wanted to create a natural make-up look for this set up because it would contrast nicely to the other more bold pink and blue looks, as well as having my hair in a ponytail, although we did emphasise the ponytail by backcombing my hair to make it bigger and more obvious.

Below is a clip that shows my hair and make-up style.

     

White set up 

The day was good and everything went according to plan, allowing us to experiment with different shots such as dolly shots which we didn't use in our rough cut. The difficulty with these shots was getting the camera to track smoothly and making sure the studio couldn't be seen in the shots. Eleanor overcame this by moving the camera more slowly and marking where to stop the dolly.

We also tried some tighter close ups so as to give our video more of a variety, rather than just using long and mid shots for the whole thing. We discovered that it is actually a convention of music videos to have close ups of the artist's face to draw the audience in and engage them. 

Example of experimenting with close ups
Focusing the camera

When taking shots like these, the camera always had to be focused on the person's eyes as this is where the audience would be looking. We focused the camera by using the zoom button and then twisting the focus until the eyes were clear.

Tuesday

On this day we did our blue set up which involved a bolder look for make up, consisting of bright blue eye shadow to make my eyes stand out. Our set was made up of the boxes and rose petals scattered across the floor. We had saved our blue lights set up in the test shoot, however, there was technical difficulties during our shoot week with some of the colours not working, so we had to play around with the lights again until they were how we wanted. As a result of the colours not working, the blue background was less pigmented than we had hoped.

Behind the scenes photo of our setup

Having mastered how to do the dolly shot the day before during the white set up, we were able to use this shot again in the blue set up. It adds variety to the video and gives the audience a different perspective of the performance.

Below is an example of the dolly shots we got.

    

On this day we decided to experiment with some other shots such as a bird-eye view over mine and Jack's face with petals scattered around our heads. We wanted to try this so that we would have a choice of shots to use when it came to editing.

    
Behind the scenes of Eleanor taking the shot

In order to take this shot, we had to move the lights around so that mine and Jack's faces were lit up without a shadow being cast over our faces.

Eleanor and I moving the lights around

At the end of this day, we had some spare time so we decided to take a wrap video explaining some of the roles we had, what difficulties we faced and how we overcame them. This video can be seen below.

    

Wednesday

On this day we did our pink set up which required the most bold hair style (space buns), which Pru and Eleanor did for me. I did my make up myself, using pink eye shadow to make my eyes stand out. Our set up was the same as before, except this time we used pink lollipops scattered across the floor rather than blue petals.

Picture of our pink set

On this day, the only performance complication we encountered was when Jack and myself had to do the lollipop shots where we had to bring a lollipop to our mouths and then look at each other and smile. It was hard to get the timing right for this shot as we couldn't look at each other when bringing the lollipop up initially. Also, the framing was difficult to perfect because we are different heights. However, we were able to overcome these issues and ended up getting a nice shot.

On this day we also did some dolly shots so that we could cut between the dolly shots of each colour when it came to editing. Below is a video of the dolly shots we got.

    

This was my favourite day because I was able to relate to the artist the most as I was wearing clothes that I felt confident in and would wear myself in everyday life. I also enjoyed getting my hair because I felt like a real performer.

Thursday

We dedicated this day to getting pick up shots where we needed them but it turned out that we only needed to get some close ups and so didn't spend much time filming. Instead, we started editing and went through the rushes from the previous three days, eliminating any shots that weren't good and renaming the ones that we kept.

Friday

As we had gotten all our filming shots already, we had the whole of this day to take our studio promo shots. Jack and I had to bring a range of clothing and outfits in order to make the shots interesting and different. Most of our shots we took together but got some individual ones as well for the website 'photos' page. We aimed to get shots of us looking close to draw attention to the fact that we are in a relationship and are also best friends. We took a range of photos but consisting of 4 different outfits. A few of the photos we took can be seen below.














































We also took photos that would appear on the front of our digipak design. These were close up shots of Jack and I, with just skin showing so that we would appear like stripped back artists, making music that is true to ourselves.