Research and Planning
We made a facebook messaging group so that we could all stay in contact on the same thread. This proved very useful when planning shoots or discussing any issues or problems that arose.
At the beginning of the project, we presented our basic ideas with regards to artist identity, music video and album art to our class, in order to gain feedback to get feedback on whether or not these proposals would be successful. In order to do this we used online website "Prezi", to make a presentation that was more interactive that the software we already had i.e. powerpoint. The prezi is linked below, and we accompanied it with this handout.
Following this, we gave a technical presentation, to explain how we planned to film and light etc. This presentation was made on powerpoint, and we presented this to the class and uploaded it to the blog via Slide Share. Here is our technical presentation. It further explains the technology we planned on using.
To shoot the majority of our shots, we used a Sony HVR-V1E. This is because the camera is very versatile, and has a wide range of settings for aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc. The main reason for us using this camera, was because it could pick up the projection well, unlike the 5D. The adjustable shutter speed in particularly was another advantage of selecting this camera, as we knew that we would want to slow many of the shots, particularly for the dancer, and so we would need to shoot these in 50 FPS or higher. Another benefit of using this camera was that it enabled us to do smooth focus pulls very easily.
However, for the opening shot, we needed the F-stop to be very small so that we could do a focus pull from the singers hands to her face. The V1 was not as good for this as we would have hoped as the focus pull was not noticeable enough; too much was in focus. For this reason, the opening two shots were shot on a Canon 5D mark II, on which we achieved this focus pull with very shallow focus.
We shot three of the set-ups (hospital, projection and performance) in the school studio. We used the studio lights for each of these set-ups, in all three of which we faced a different challenge. In the projection set-up we had to light the band without making the colours in the projection fade away. For the grunge set-up we had to light not only the band but a large set in different coloured light. In the hospital set-up we had to create infinite white lighting. We did this by lighting the cyclorama in the studio with as many lights as we had available, and turning them all up to create full intensity. We then put sheets of paper over the metal arch between the cyclorama and the white flooring to eliminate shadows and create infinite white! Finally, we lit the bed and the lead singer.
We made a facebook messaging group so that we could all stay in contact on the same thread. This proved very useful when planning shoots or discussing any issues or problems that arose.
At the beginning of the project, we presented our basic ideas with regards to artist identity, music video and album art to our class, in order to gain feedback to get feedback on whether or not these proposals would be successful. In order to do this we used online website "Prezi", to make a presentation that was more interactive that the software we already had i.e. powerpoint. The prezi is linked below, and we accompanied it with this handout.
Following this, we gave a technical presentation, to explain how we planned to film and light etc. This presentation was made on powerpoint, and we presented this to the class and uploaded it to the blog via Slide Share. Here is our technical presentation. It further explains the technology we planned on using.
Technical presentation from aliced1996
GoPro
In the technical presentation, we mention the use of the GoPro camera. We planned to use this over the bridge of the song, to make the dancer seem more surreal after she has just been injected. The GoPro would have been good for this because it can shoot in higher numbers of FPS which meant that we would be able to slow the scenes. Furthermore, it is very durable and can be attached to pretty much anything. We shot some footage in which we attached the GoPro to the dancer's chest. For this, we downloaded the GoPro app for iPhone and Android onto our mobile phones. This meant that when we shot these scenes, we could watch what the camera was recording on our phones as it was being transmitted by wifi.
GoPro
In the technical presentation, we mention the use of the GoPro camera. We planned to use this over the bridge of the song, to make the dancer seem more surreal after she has just been injected. The GoPro would have been good for this because it can shoot in higher numbers of FPS which meant that we would be able to slow the scenes. Furthermore, it is very durable and can be attached to pretty much anything. We shot some footage in which we attached the GoPro to the dancer's chest. For this, we downloaded the GoPro app for iPhone and Android onto our mobile phones. This meant that when we shot these scenes, we could watch what the camera was recording on our phones as it was being transmitted by wifi.
Although we did not end up using this footage, because it looked very different to what we shot on the Sony HVR V1E, I found this a great experience of using new media technologies through both the hardware of the innovative camera itself, and the software of the app on a smart phone.
Construction
QR Code
Whilst researching album art conventions, I realised that next to the bar code was often a QR code. These codes can be read by smart phone cameras and then provide a link, most often to a website. I used the website qrstuff.com to create our QR code, which I made link to our website, as this is the hub of our campaign. However, it is useful to know that if we ran something like a facebook competition, I could now make a QR code link to the facebook page, or an iTunes page.
Wix
To create our website, we used Wix, a free Java based site for creating your own website. This had the great advantage of meaning that my group and I did not have to learn how to code HTML. Furthermore, Wix often had pre-designed features that we wanted to use, such as colour changes when the mouse scrolls over text, something that again would have taken us a long time to have learnt to code using HTML. A disadvantage of Wix, however, is that it only has a certain number of options and features, and so our creativity was limited to a certain extent. For some features, such as the social media feeds, we had to download widgets which were HTML coded as Wix did not provide these as an option. Overall, Wix was a very good web technology for our project and served our needs well. However, in the future I would be interested in learning more about HTML, due to the freedom and possibilities that this provides.
Hardware used
Whilst researching album art conventions, I realised that next to the bar code was often a QR code. These codes can be read by smart phone cameras and then provide a link, most often to a website. I used the website qrstuff.com to create our QR code, which I made link to our website, as this is the hub of our campaign. However, it is useful to know that if we ran something like a facebook competition, I could now make a QR code link to the facebook page, or an iTunes page.
 |
| Our QR code (you can scan it it works!) |
Wix
To create our website, we used Wix, a free Java based site for creating your own website. This had the great advantage of meaning that my group and I did not have to learn how to code HTML. Furthermore, Wix often had pre-designed features that we wanted to use, such as colour changes when the mouse scrolls over text, something that again would have taken us a long time to have learnt to code using HTML. A disadvantage of Wix, however, is that it only has a certain number of options and features, and so our creativity was limited to a certain extent. For some features, such as the social media feeds, we had to download widgets which were HTML coded as Wix did not provide these as an option. Overall, Wix was a very good web technology for our project and served our needs well. However, in the future I would be interested in learning more about HTML, due to the freedom and possibilities that this provides.
Hardware used
To shoot the majority of our shots, we used a Sony HVR-V1E. This is because the camera is very versatile, and has a wide range of settings for aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc. The main reason for us using this camera, was because it could pick up the projection well, unlike the 5D. The adjustable shutter speed in particularly was another advantage of selecting this camera, as we knew that we would want to slow many of the shots, particularly for the dancer, and so we would need to shoot these in 50 FPS or higher. Another benefit of using this camera was that it enabled us to do smooth focus pulls very easily.
However, for the opening shot, we needed the F-stop to be very small so that we could do a focus pull from the singers hands to her face. The V1 was not as good for this as we would have hoped as the focus pull was not noticeable enough; too much was in focus. For this reason, the opening two shots were shot on a Canon 5D mark II, on which we achieved this focus pull with very shallow focus.
We shot three of the set-ups (hospital, projection and performance) in the school studio. We used the studio lights for each of these set-ups, in all three of which we faced a different challenge. In the projection set-up we had to light the band without making the colours in the projection fade away. For the grunge set-up we had to light not only the band but a large set in different coloured light. In the hospital set-up we had to create infinite white lighting. We did this by lighting the cyclorama in the studio with as many lights as we had available, and turning them all up to create full intensity. We then put sheets of paper over the metal arch between the cyclorama and the white flooring to eliminate shadows and create infinite white! Finally, we lit the bed and the lead singer.
.JPG) |
| The unlit cyclorama! |
Website and Social Media
Beyonce's recent campaign not only influenced our decisions with regards to marketing, but it had an influence on how we have used certain new media technologies.
- Confirmed website as "hub" of campaign
- We put a 30 second teaser sound clip that automatically plays as you open the webpage
- Changed our banner bar from buttons to plain text as hers does
- Also had album teaser pop up before getting to main home page
This video below also shows all of the social media links that we used.
We also took influence from Lorde's website. On her homepage there was bold text that had images of herself from various shoots coming through where the text appeared. We created a similar effect with our teaser image, the first pop up on the website. This image was made using the album cover image attached with a clipping mask to the I symbol.
The teaser page itself was made by creating a new web page, as it was not possible to create pop-ups on Wix. This was one its limitations, but it was something that we managed to work our way around it. The teaser web page, once clicked, links to the main homepage, and so in this way the initial web page acts just like a pop up.
Adobe Photoshop
Whilst most of what we did on photoshop I had seen before, some was new to me. The main new tool that I used was the "Skin Smoothing Action". This was a tool enabled that blurred and perfected skin on photos. We used this most for the dry shots in the inside cover, in which the band are meant to appear stripped down but also made up, and perfected.
Adobe Premiere Pro
This was not software that was new to me, however we used the software differently in this project. First of all, when editing, we lay down a performance bed, from which we cut in between so that we only had to lipsync each shot once. Our grading was also very different to that of film openings or TV trailers: it was much more dramatic. See the video below for the changes in grade from the original shot to the final grade of it.
More interesting though, is how we edited the dancer scenes. Towards the end, we had to make the dancer disappear gradually, both through running and increasing the pace of editing, but also by fading him in and out. In this final shot, the camera was static and we filmed the empty street first. We then filmed the dancer running, and intercut between the two to make him flash in and out. Finally, we added a zoom onto both of these shots. See the shot below.
We also time warped shots by cutting them up and changing the speeds. This was particularly noticeable in the shot from which this still has been taken, which made it one of the most memorable shots of the video. The echo effect is also visible on this still, again creating emphasis in addition to that provided by the slow motion.
Adobe After Effects
Another shot in which we used techniques that I had not seen before was the shot below. We needed to introduce the idea of the dancer disappearing earlier on, and he does so in this shot. Again in this, the camera was static, and we filmed two separate shots of the actors running. We then cut out the lead singer frame by frame, and placed this shot above the shot of the dancer. To make the dancer fade at the end, we cross dissolved the two shots.
Evaluation
Throughout the evaluation I have explored new media technologies in order to present my answer. Some of my favourites are Camtasia (a screen recording tool), surveymonkey, imgflip (a gif generator) and slide share. I hope that they have made my evaluation enjoyable!
This was not software that was new to me, however we used the software differently in this project. First of all, when editing, we lay down a performance bed, from which we cut in between so that we only had to lipsync each shot once. Our grading was also very different to that of film openings or TV trailers: it was much more dramatic. See the video below for the changes in grade from the original shot to the final grade of it.
More interesting though, is how we edited the dancer scenes. Towards the end, we had to make the dancer disappear gradually, both through running and increasing the pace of editing, but also by fading him in and out. In this final shot, the camera was static and we filmed the empty street first. We then filmed the dancer running, and intercut between the two to make him flash in and out. Finally, we added a zoom onto both of these shots. See the shot below.
We also time warped shots by cutting them up and changing the speeds. This was particularly noticeable in the shot from which this still has been taken, which made it one of the most memorable shots of the video. The echo effect is also visible on this still, again creating emphasis in addition to that provided by the slow motion.
Another shot in which we used techniques that I had not seen before was the shot below. We needed to introduce the idea of the dancer disappearing earlier on, and he does so in this shot. Again in this, the camera was static, and we filmed two separate shots of the actors running. We then cut out the lead singer frame by frame, and placed this shot above the shot of the dancer. To make the dancer fade at the end, we cross dissolved the two shots.
Evaluation
Throughout the evaluation I have explored new media technologies in order to present my answer. Some of my favourites are Camtasia (a screen recording tool), surveymonkey, imgflip (a gif generator) and slide share. I hope that they have made my evaluation enjoyable!
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