Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Advert Draft (Georgia)

I chose a photo of Bronte and Thomas sitting side by side as the basis for the advert. However, finding one was difficult, since most of the photos with the two of them involved Thomas pulling a face. I found a mild one though, and it works quite well.

The photo of the candles was one Serena took in her own time. I removed the black background and blurred the flames to make a nice effect. I also added a layer over the top with the blend option 'overlay'. We settled on the candles so that the advert would fit the theme of the digipak (which also uses candles).

I added a slight black blur around Thomas and Bronte, so that the grey lines that remained from the background of the photoshoot were completely removed. It also added a nice effect to the image.

The fonts used are the ones used on the digipak as well, so that there is some synchronization between the digipak and the advert.


Draft advert three (Thomas)

This is the comet I made from scratch using Photoshop's paint and smudge tools.

I then got the picture of the comet I made and placed it under the image of Bronte and turned down the opacity of the top image. This made it look like the comet was going into her heart.

This is with the writing and titles added, to finish off the advert I put the white border around the main image to. I unintentionally spelt 'Album' wrong on the draft, I know not to make spelling mistakes like this on the final advert.


Advert draft two (Georgia)

I started with an A4 black canvas in Photoshop.
I then use an image of Bronte that I had cut out previously for a prior recce shot.

A added a white border with the rectangle tour, and cut out round edges with a soft square selection.
Using the same method as before, I cut out the candle and placed it in Bronte's hands.
Using the transform warp tool, I moved the flame to look like Bronte was blowing it away.
Again using the paths tool, I cut out a copy of Bronte's thumb and layered it over the top of the candle.

I then took an image of Thomas and using the transform warp tool made it look as if he was emerging with the flame.

I used a soft light layer gradient over the top so that Thomas looked more a part of the flame.

I used a hard pressure sensitive brush to add some retro circles to add a more mysterious effect.
I added dates and titles to finish off the advert.

My finished draft.

Filming difficulties (Abbie)

Problem: 
A day before we were going to start our first day of filming, our actor decided that she did not want to film anymore leaving us without an actor and potentially leaving us with no option other than to cancel our recording session on the studio.
Solution: 
We managed to find a second actor within the same day! Bronte was very kind to offer to be out actor so we told her what we're planning to do the next day and what she would need to bring, it was even better that she was a dancer so we could have the dance sequence we wanted.

Problem: 
Trying to get permission from the museum took longer than expected simply due to problems of them losing my number several times which was frustrating as I was trying to find a date that all the crew and actors could attend.
Solution: 
I was able to get in touch with the manager via email and make arrangements to go down and film on the day, as my crew and actors are available on the condition that I bring down the storyboard to show them where I wanted to film.

 Problem: 
When we were filming the frame sequence, we had to place the frame on the wall which was attempted over the course of two days, which were Wednesday and Friday. The problem was that the frame couldn't hold it's weight has we were using Blu-Tak to support the frame although this didn't work very well as it kept falling down until the point the frame has snapped partly in the corners.
Solution:
We found out that the frame could hold it's weight if we took the glass of the frame out, so we re-filmed on Friday without the glass in which it stayed when placed so we could get a variety of shots that would introduce the narrative slowly.

Monday, 17 December 2012

Behind the scenes: (Abbie + Thomas)



The video, shows parts of behind the scenes of all the different places we filmed. First it shows us in the museum which was day three of filming, so we were halfway through construction of the video. The scene shows us setting up the camera to do a track of Bronte walking, before cutting to her lip-syncing with the candles around her. The clip of Thomas shows they were waiting while me and Serena discussed what to do next, afterwards it shows a clip of Bronte walking through the hallway of a house      whilst lip-syncing.  The next clip shows Bronte singing towards the camera, before Thomas came into the shot earlier than expected which left Bronte slightly shocked. The next shot shows Georgia zooming in on Thomas face before cutting to myself and Serena when we noticed we had made a mistake in which we re-shot. In the next shot, it shows Thomas in a stock since he was not needed for the scene, he took a break from filming. In the next shot, it shows Serena giving instructions to me so we had a similar idea to what shot we we're going to do next, before it cuts back to Bronte staying warm in the museum while we set up. It then cuts to filming in the studio, we did not use this footage but this was from day two when we first filmed Bronte dance sequence. Afterward it's the final clip of Bronte and Thomas which was supposedly meant to be used as the ending clip of the video but we were unable to use it because of the shadows unfortunately. Overall it shows our progress through out the construction of our video.


Thursday, 13 December 2012

Storyboard (Serena)










The original storyboard did not follow the full shot schedule, so some of the shots were missing, which was not enough for me to create the animatic of our music video. To solve this problem, at the beginning, I used all the shots from the original storyboard, edited those shots in Final Cut. Than I compared that with the shot schedule so I know which parts were missing, I re-drawed the missing part. This time, I labelled the time, shot type and the action on every shot on the right-up corner of the image that could help me put those new shots in the right place.

Photoshoot (Thomas)


This image appears as if it could be placed behind the disc, because of its composition the image can be used on a cover in the Digipak.



I thought that this image could be manipulated into Bronte blowing stardust or a cosmos from her hands.

The way that Thomas is posed and off center gives a artistic view for the space around him which we could use to draw attention to the backdrop and we could use this image of Thomas in the advert.


This would make for an excellent advert as this image can be cropped and made into a advertisement as it has the impression that it is a Victorian/Edwardian feel to the image.



In this photox it is of both me and Bronte and we are meant to be happily married, the blank background means that this is as the painting is not yet finished and we are still happy with our not yet 'complete' life, which goes with the theme of the music video. Bronte posing in this image shows she is mischievous as if she is still in her optimistic life style. These photos show our development into our project.





Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Music Video Draft (Abbie)



This is the final video for our music sequence of Florence and the Machine - Cosmic love, the narrative is of a couple on there wedding day, the female persona is tired of being stuck in an small framed space. eventually she's had enough of being a painting and decides to break free leaving her husband confused at her sudden departure. She finds herself in the museum where she explores vicariously as if she was human, passing against the houses she finds some candles and begins to light the dark world which is the realistic look on life when she escaped from her optimistic lifestyle.

To achieve the effect, we collected a frame and printed a picture of Bronte and Thomas the position in which they had been performing in. We then stuck it to the wall, and began filming into the frame so that when we placed this at the beginning of our sequence, so that our narrative would make sense. During filming we also got our actor Bronte to perform a 'step-out' motion so that it backed up that's she is escaping the painting. Because we liked a victorian like theme, we decided to hold the 'escape' at the museum because it's very historical which is why we chose the long lace dress for Bronte because it fitted well into the theme. When editing the sequence, we decided to apply some transitions at the beginning sequence so that when it goes from the frame to the medium shot, it's indicating that the painting has come alive which refers back to the narrative. During the dance sequence, I added a transition on the last dance sequence and slowed the clip down so it slowly faded in to the next clip effectively. During the second dance sequence, I added an overlay of the candles so when it played, the clip was dark around Bronte creating a really nice effect, as she danced. I also used the 'reverse' effect on the ending clips, because it shows Bronte going backwards to the beginning clip to make reference back to our cyclical narrative.









Filming, day six. (Frame Sequence) (Serena)

During the editing, we were suggested by our teacher. He suggested to us that we could film a picture frame to the camera angle of 'zoom-in  and zoom out' of the picture so that our narrative makes more sense. We accepted the suggestion, because we think this sequence could be a good link back to the story what could represent our equilibrium linear narrative, and bring our audience back to real life. Abbie filmed few clips two days previously, but on some clips we could see the door next to the frame and the lighting was dark which we don't think will suit our video. So in media lesson on friday, I re-filmed the sequence again in different camera shots. Abbie brought the frame in again after printing out the picture two days before, by using the Blue Tac I sticked the frame on the wall outside our class room. This time, there wall was clear and I was able to film un-interupted. I filmed the in 'Zoom-in','Zoom-out' and 'Pan' with different positions, so that we have more choices.




Re-filming: Day five (Dance Sequence) (Serena)

What we did:
In the morning Serena and myself went to performing art classroom to re-film the dancing part. The reason we filmed in there was so we could used the color lights which looks more professional and has a better effect than the studio lights. We used the black curtain so that the mirror in the performing arts wouldn't interfer with filming, we did not have an extra camera.When we re-filmed the dancing part, this time our actor Bronte has more space to dance and the floor is better and safer to dance on. Like last time, she did some rotations but not as many as last time due to the lack of time, so we did not need to move the camera around like previously. Her dancing style is modern dance, she performed the same dance choreograph. We also re-film the performance when she lays on the floor. This time, we made sure to keep the tripod leg out of the shot so we cannot see it in the video and ruin the clip. The shots were alot better from the last filming experience, we have improved the camera quality to HD and have a better location.




 

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Draft Advert one (Abbie)


Firstly I opened up a new photoshop file before changing the size of the canvas so that it is the same size as the orignal Florence and the Machine advert.


Next thing I did was to copy the background incase I made any mistakes I could simply delete that background with my orignal still intact.


Next I changed the 'background copy' to black but kept the orignal background white.


After changing the background to black, I added the bands name at the top of the canvas. I changed the font to our chosen font which is Edwardian Script ITC and change the colour to white, the size is 48 PT and set the anti-aliasing method to strong.

Next I added the title 'Presents' and I changed the font to our chosen font which is Edwardian Script ITC and change the colour to white, the size is 48 PT and set the anti-aliasing method to strong.


I added the title of the album which is 'Lungs' and changed the font to our chosen font which is Edwardian Script ITC and change the colour to white, the size is 48 PT and set the anti-aliasing method to strong.

I print screened a photo of candles and copied it into photoshop before changing the layer name to 'Candles'.

I added a 'dark shadows' that was located in the blending options to add a soft touch to the photograph.


I then added outer glow onto the picture because it reminded me of a picture frame which makes reference to our narrative.


Afterwards I changed the blend mode to 'Hard light', which darkened it and made it look more shadowed.


I then added the date in which the album was released orignally.
I added some information on the advert as has as well  as the CD, you will recieve live versions of the songs and a behind the scenes exclusive. I also offered a download on the song we chosen 'Cosmic love'.


I then added one of our actors Thomas, I rasterize the layer and used transformation to move the picture to blend in with the background before turning opacity the down (96%) and Fill (72%).



Then I added a picture of Bronte in and added a mask as her background was going through the lines, so I masked it out. I had orignally used the same opacity and fill as Thomas but decided against it and changed her opacity back to 100%
I then saved it as a JPEG and added an 8 for image quality, the reason I chose 8 so it looked high quality without taking a long time for the images to load.


The final image