Wednesday 19 December 2012

Grading Tests





During the editing of the video we decided that the narrative parts of the video may appear more relective after changing the contrasts of the video. Appearing as reflective may be appropriate for our video because the live performance features a singer who also appears in the narrative. Having the singer appear in both the narrative and the live performance makes the narrative feel as though it might possibly be a memory that the singer is singing about. By making the contrasts of the video seem darker or possibly more vibrant then it can help emphasize the fact that the narrative is more of a memory than just a random narrative.

So far, the images above show the tests we have done on Katie's laptop. The first image depicts the narrative in a more black and white contrast. This would certainly indicate that the narrative is more of a memory which is the aim, however if I were to be picky then I would say that it may appear too dark, as in the fairly light hearted nature of the video would not link together with a more black and white image.

The second image is shows much more vibrant colours. The colours across the whole frame are exggerated to create a more dynamic elated effect. This may help foreshadow the drugs which will be taken later on in the video (at the point in the narrative the images are taken from, the characters are only just about to meet) however to be critical I would argue that the colours are possibly too vibrant which can make the narrative look unrealistic. In terms of when the characters actually take drugs then it perhaps may be useful to use but before the characters meet then I feel there is little point to it.

The third image I quite like, it is not fully black and white however it is dark enough to suggest that these parts of the video is a memory. The colours appear much more subtle and more in the background whilst the characters in the video seem much darker. This could help indicate an isolation aspect to the characters (a convention present in numerous alternative rock videos). In order to be critical then I would say that the characters are possibly too dark since the video was shot at roughly 1:00pm on a bright sunny day then it can seem to be an odd contrast with the characters being so dark. Also it may be hard to fully make out what the characters facial expressions are like which can differ the experience and understanding of the video greatly.

The fourth image has colours which blend much more noticeably, the colours are not vibrant and much more dark, representing the isolation of the characters at the beginning. However this image looks much more 'doom and gloom', not only is it dark but very grey imagery can create an atmosphere which we do not want to present. The final image appears to be more of a transition to the live performance using the effect 'luma key'. However this is not a transition and actually plays both the live performance segment and the narrative segment at the same time. This overall looks quite silly, the idea of showing the narrative and live performance at the exact same time is an interesting concept but using this effect I feel will decrease the experience from the audience. It will distract them from both the performance and the narrative since the audience will not know what to primarily focus on. Using this I feel would not be a very good idea. It has the potential to be more of a hindrance rather than a postive aspect of the video.

Overall I feel as though 1, 2 and 3 are the ones which have the most potential. 1 clearly identifies a memory but may appear too dark. 2 is vibrant and helps reflect the idea of drugs, however using this before the characters take drugs may seem very awkward and will not truly make sense. 3 is subtle and presents a memory but could still appear too dark in contrast to the video. All of these tests both have their positive aspects and negative aspects. I have attempted to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these images intentionally in order to show that using any of these may be a good idea in some respects and a negative idea in others. The final two I feel are too distracting, if 1 and 3 are potentially too dark then 4 almost certainly is too dark and grey. The final image would not make sense at all to use in the video. Perhaps when the characters take drugs it would be something interesting to use (as though they are being stripped from reality) but it still will most likely appear silly and the audience will not be able to understand what is happeneing or where to focus on.

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Friday Filming/Update on Editing

On Friday me, Katie, Sean and Emily filmed the final part of the video. This part involved the characters me and Emily play going into a house and continuing to drink alcohol and have sex. This was done in order to conform to the typical teenage antics displayed in numerous alternative rock videos. We have continued the editing stage and now have only one verse next to complete. There are still aspects which need to be improved upon I.E some parts of the editing will be tightened. The editing at the beginning of the video is going to become much slower than orignally planned. It is being slowed and lengthened in the beginning parts of the narrative, the reason for this is so that is allows the editing to 'pick up' along with the tempo of the song, the editing near the end of the video will stay consistant with its fast paced nature but in order to highlight the urgency of the narrative (in the sense that the characters are getting more passionate feelings for eachother) then the editing must start off relatively slow and then gradually increase in speed.

Wednesday 5 December 2012

More digipack images

Here are some more images which have been made possibly for the digipacks. These designs follow the same design and the same look. They both use black and white and have used Photoshop in order to add some colour back in to the image to create a similar mood. The mood and tone it creates is fairly dark. Possibly the images are too dark in contrast to the video. Peronsally I believe that the quality of these images are very good and present a tone which is very effective. The fact that the parts which have been coloured back in have affiliations with drugs helps signify the importance of drugs to the characters. It makes it appear as though they're the only part which matters. Drugs are a major theme of the video, however they are more celebrated which the images may not directly signify. However the images do make the idea of drugs stand out far more noticably which can help the digipacks link to the video and be effective in creating a tone.


Tuesday 4 December 2012

Rough Cut

http://katsawesomea2blog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/music-video-rough-cut.html

Here is a rough cut to the video we have produced. Notably this is only from the live performance without the narrative. We can edit in the narrative in later. Overall I am happy with what has been acheived thus far. Some of the vocals do still need to be synchronised to the music however the majority of the vocals are syncronised already.