Media Diary

Monday 5th October
Today I listened to my chosen artist Jose Vander’s, me and my partner Jade spent an hour discussing ideas for our music video and what we both wanted to achieve at the end of the project. We listened to various music which Jose has produced and whilst listening to the songs we brainstormed ideas which we could potentially use. We placed the name of the song in the middle of the brainstorm and then branched off ideas as Jose Vander’s produces very gentle acoustic music some of the ideas which were triggered were the use of puppetry moving, a traditional fairytale idea. The idea of an object growing and increasing in size through a serious of movement and various other ideas. Perhaps a jigsaw piecing together the idea of fairy dust and a repeated motif to demonstrate the gentle twinkle sounds. We then discussed our ideas and we both decided on the idea of puppetry coming to life so we liked the idea of setting our video in an old fashioned toy shop and having a small child as the main character and wanting to have a stuffed toy as a real life friend.
We then discovered Jose Vander’s has a song called ‘Peter Pan’ we felt this would be perfect because we could still use the idea of something fairytale coming to life which also meant we could use special effects and animation in our video to represent peter pan and also the lyrics tied in perfectly with our theme and idea.



Monday 12 October

Today we sat and went over ideas which we discussed previously and decided to print off the lyrics for Peter Pan. We then analysed the lyrics and created a rough treatment for the plan of our video. We went through the lyrics and highlighted the main words and phrases to use as our stimulus for each section and then wrote what action is going to take place in each scene. We successfully managed to cover the whole of our song so we now have the whole story for our video and it runs as follows. A young girl sat on her bed writing an entry into her diary and then an extreme close up of the diary which will read as the first line of the song ‘Peter, Peter was your name’ The girl when then stand up from her bed and walk over to her mirror and look at herself in the mirror. She will then suddenly flinch and realise that something just flew past. There will be a section where the young girl is searching around her bedroom trying to search for Peter Pan and unfortunately not find him. However, when she looks again he will be sat on her bed. There will be a animation scene where pieces of thread and material will create a phrase that says ‘Follow him’ The girl will then put on her wellies and leave her bedroom. The scene will then cut to a meadow where the young girl will be chasing the fairy around and trying to fly as the music becomes faster. They will be playing around and spending time together. This is where all the main action will take part in the video. As the music dies down and becomes slower the fairy animation will disappear and the young girl will turn her back and walk away. There will then be a cut in to the last scene where the young girl will be in her bed, as the music begins to die down. The young girl will pull a quilt over her head and smile to herself as she goes off to sleep. To finish with we created a list of things we need to do and allocated each other with a task to have completed for the next lesson. My task is to create a list of things we need to use, props, clothing and gain permission for the places we want to use in our video. Jade’s task is to have a go at creating an animated version of a Peter Pan type animation and have a play around with ways in which the figure can move around and be incorporated into a natural setting in order to interact with the girl.



Monday 5th October

Today we collected together the research and planning for our video and began searching for images of Peter Pan as inspiration for our fairy character in our peice. We attemtpted to sketch several images which we could potentially use for our final character. We drew different facial expressions and body parts and we have finally decided on a design which we will be using for our final piece. The scanned images of our final animation can be seen below Copy we have also decided on an image which we are going to use as a final image the reason we have chosen this certain image is because we felt it was simple to re-draw the certain body parts and we also felt this looks the most effective.



Monday 12th October

We spent today’s lesson analysing the lyrics for our piece of music by Jose Vander’s and figuring out the reasoning behind the lyrics and deciding on a rough idea of the action which is going to go on in our video. We also spent a lot of time discussing and confirming our ideas for our video and what props and equipment we need to use.



Monday 19th October

In today’s lesson we created a rough treatment to allow us to know exactly what action is going to be happening on each line of the lyrics. This is useful for us when we come to planning out and creating our video because then we will know exactly what happens when. We created our rough treatment by highlighting lines and writing the action which is going to happen next to the lines.



Monday 2nd October

In lesson today we began creating our storyboard for our music video by sketching out the action which is going to be taking place so we know exactly what were going to do at each point. We will then scan these drawn and labelled images into word and add them to our project.



Monday 9th October

We began with another discussion about our video and carried on sketching out all our images as part of our planning. So we now have a completed set of storyboards to use alongside our other planning so we have a clear video plan which we can follow.



Monday 16th October

In lesson today we had a discussion on ‘Key points to remember when using the camera’ and we wrote down notes and a plan which we need to follow in order to create a successful video. The steps and plan are written as follows. Firstly book the camera with Mr Fletcher When we have the camera firstly press eject then insert the tape. We need to make sure the camera is fully charged before use and the charger can be located inside the case. Press the green button down on the camera and rewind the tape and put it on play. To record content press down the white button. Don’t rewind the tape when recording has been done. When filming firstly count down from 10 before recording on 4 begin counting down and get ready to film as action will start at 1. When finished a scene make sure you pause in between each scene. Don’t use zoom complete a close up by actually holding the camera close to the stimulus. Do return the camera with the date agreed. Useful to record action of the young singer being filmed as when there isn’t content that can be used it allows you to just skip back to the artist singing. Use a tripod when filming Video of action has to start before the music when recording so that the timing can be balanced the same. When doing a close up of the artists balance the camera on the flat palm of your hand and bring your elbow close into the side of your body so that it’s balanced and this will avoid the camera being blurry. Copying the content into a file and saving it 1. Open up final cut pro 2. File-save project as- then full name-Media A2-quit final cut pro-Documents-Media year13- file login-catcher-play. 3. After viewing the image press escape. 4. File save project not save project as 5. Music for the video must be through a CD. Go to ‘bridge’ go to computer and open up music. Track 1 edit and copy- documents- media Year13- Paste track into the folder. 6. File-import files- find music and choose. Then synchronize the singer and music so that they run at the same time. 7. Must File and save project after every produce.



7th December

Lesson on editing A few point to consider when adding special effects and editing the music video. To match up the lip sync and making sure the music and the lip syncing goes together and is matched up with the correct timing because the video has to be realistic. V1 is the main audio track with a close up of the singer singing audio 1-2 needs to be locked. Other shots should go over the top of V2 Keep on V1 and V2 to prevent the computer from crashing. In order to add special effects to the music video for example put the music video in slow motion. Click on the video-Modify-Duration of speed-constant or variable speed to slow down. Green screen on V2 under key, blue and green screen-left hand side- filters-key mode change to green. When adding special effects make sure it actually enhances the music video and not just but into the video for the sake of adding special effects.

14th December

We decided that we weren't going to use animation in our video but instead use a boy to play the part of peter pan. We still want the idea of having an imaginary friend but because the use of animation we felt would be time consuming and too demanding to create and for it to look effective, so by using a boy we can atleast direct and accurately achieve the right image we want to create. So this lesson wasn't as productive as it could have been but we managed to clear up our ideas and we made a few different alterations to our plan. We have added some new camera shots and special effects that we want to create in our video.
4th January
I began uploading work onto my blogger. I scanned in images of my brainstorm and plan for my music video and scanned in my rough treatment and the lessons run, are mostly independent work than as a pair. I also uploaded my analysed slideshow of an artist and music video which I analysed and uploaded onto my blogger. We also have another discussion and have decided on everything in detail to include in our video and are now in the process of completeing the video.

11th January
The music video is now complete and I am in the editing process as I begin to peice of video together and sync in the music. I've uploaded more work onto blogger which was my annotated music videos of three different artists similar to Jose Vander's. I've also added more work in the creating and evaluation process of my music video.


18th January
In lesson today I began research into digi packs, posters and websites. I have to choose two out of the three choices. I have decided to create a digi pack and poster and have begun research into the two chosen areas, I began by just browsing through internet sites with artists similar to my chosen genre such as Laura Marling and Regina Spektor for ideas. I then uploaded this research onto my blogger.


25 January

Today I have drawn 3 rough designs of digi packs which I have researched and analysed similar to my artist. I have analysed two Jose Vander's digi pack covers which she has already released and I also did a draft of a Laura Marling cover and analysed and labelled information around the image. I have also done research into the artists website to find ideas for posters, I couldn't find any posters which advertised the artists single but I did manage to find posters which advertised gigs and events which the artists has organised. I found this very useful because I could see the kind of imagery and ideas, which link to the artists genre of music. I found that there seems to be a similar theme which runs throughout the alternative/indie style of music and that is to create unusual, spontaneous kind of imagery. I have took this information on borad and will use this to help me produce a digi pack and poster design of my own.


1st Febuary

I have created two detailed brainstorms for my digi pack and my poster and have sketched out small animations and ideas to use for either my digi pack for poster. I have used different colours to experiment with the designs and have scanned these images and uploaded them onto my blog.

8th Febuary

I have sketched out four possible ideas for my digi pack and have analysed these designs on how I want them to look. The reason for experimenting with these different designs is that it has given me the chance to visually understand and grasp how I want my digi pack to look. I have also scanned these images onto my blogger and have created a questionnaire and evaluated my ideas in order to choose my target audiences favourite design.


22nd Febuary

I have created two designs for my artists poster which have been influenced from my brainstorm. I wanted to experiment with designs and create two different posters but have a similar theme for each which is the idea of childhood characters and make believe. I have coloured and annotated the designs and have scanned them onto my blog. I have then created an evaluation for all three designs including the design I want to take forward at my final. After carrying out a questionnire and receiving my audience feedback it was decided that neither of the posters were as succesful s they could've been therefore i have decided to change my idea all together. I have decided to create a poster with an image of a book to fit in with the idea of a childhood story. I have scanned in the image of a book with i will then add the information about Jose Vanders and the single.


1st March
I have began the construction of my poster and have decided to have it set out like a childs book and the information read off as the pages in the book. I have created my poster on photoshop and have used different editing tools and effects to make the poster look professionl but also have an element of the childlike theme which i want to keep running throughout. I have screen shot the making process of the poster and will later add this to my blog along with an explanation of my choices.


8th March
I have then began the construction of my digi pack which was also done using photoshop and I began by inserting a template for my outline of the digipack and then using this as a guide I began designing it. Firstly I cut out a photo of the young girl which is seen in the music video and inserted the images of some animations which I created previously. After I had added all the design elements to my digi pack I then added my text and completed it.


29th March
After completeing all my construction work I then created an evaluation and wrote up information about the construction process for creating my music video, digi pack and poster. I have spoke about the desicions which I have made and spoke about feedback which I have received from my target audience.

19th April
I have uploaded my work up onto my blog and have written explanation and given reasoning behind the work which I have created. I have included images and examples of my work.

26th April
My Finished blog and project is now complete.