Journal: Shooting [19/02/13]

On the 17th and 18th of February I did the main part of the shooting for the video. This consisted of the narrative shooting and the first performance element.

Shooting on the 17th was not as successful as hoped. This was due to the battery on the camera running out after only filming a few shots. This was a major error as I had not charged the camera prior to shooting. This meant that there was a lot more filming to be done on the 18th.

There was another error made on the 18th as the camera's memory card did not have as much memory as needed. Luckily there was enough to get the narrative and performance done, except for a few mid shots of the artist for the performance element.

I like the shots that were shot on these two days although I feel that it was too bright on the day of shooting and does not have the look that I plan on creating with the video. I hope to fix this by using filters within Final Cut Pro.

Journal: 09/01/13- Storyboard changes

Today I was going to begin editing the later part of the video that was shot before Christmas. However, when I tried to upload the videos onto the Mac's I discovered that there was an issue with the Mac's preventing me from converting the files on Streamclip. I also could not access Final Cut Pro or iMovieHD.

I have decided that I will now work out which sections of these performance elements will replace the original performance element on the story board.

Shot 45.                           Changed to
 Shot 54.                          Changed to

 Shot 55.                          Changed to
 Shot 61.                          Changed to
 Shot 62.                          Changed to

As previously stated, these shots have been changed to make the video flow better  as I was given the feedback that the original performance element was dragging on too much and I needed something else to make sure that it doesn't end up becoming predictable. Although I have shown 5 shots here, this could change when I get to the editing process.

Journal: Christmas holidays

Due to not having the proper equipment I have not managed to film this week. There have also been various issues with cast this week that has made it difficult to begin the forest shots of the video.
I hope to film these shots on the 12/13th January as I should have the adequate materials for shooting. This all depends on if I manage to acquire the white dress and contact lenses for the narrative and performance.

Journal: 19/12/12- Potential Errors/dangers

Here is a list of potential errors I may face when filming my music video:

Lighting: In all elements of the video the lighting is key. As I am aiming to film the outdoor shots late evening and in the winter it will be getting very dark, to make sure that the quality of my video is not hindered by the darker lighting I will need to do recce shots which will determine whether I will need additional lighting. I will also need to do lighting tests in my second performance location as this will be indoors but in a dark area and hopefully lit by just candlelight. Again to make sure the quality is not hindered I will need to conduct test shots using the planned lighting.

Weather: Due to the shoot being conducted in the winter there could be many issues caused by the weather. This includes possible damage to equipment and/or shoots being delayed due to extreme weather. Although the shoot will not be affected by the ground being wet, I will not be able to shoot whilst it is raining due to the damage it could cause to the lighting and camera equipment.

Location: My forest locations for the main performance element and narrative also poses a few issues. One of which is the general public. Due to the forest locations being connections to public parks I will have to be aware of the general public. Although the actual forest areas are rarely used by people a shot could always be disturbed by a dog as the locations are prime areas for dog walkers. There is no way that I could prevent this so the only thing I can do is be prepared to have to do many takes of the shots. Another issue posed by the locations I have chosen is the forest ground. I plan to have my artist shoeless so I will need to make sure that the path the artist will take during some of the running scenes is clear of twigs or other items that could harm her. If this becomes too much of a task due to the amount of close up running shots then I may need to either change the shot to a higher shot of the artist or have a pair of military style boots at hand to still keep with the 'boho' image of the artist. The former will be the most likely of the two as this does not change the overall image of the video and will add to Andrew Goodwin's theory of record labels 'exposing' the artist to their audience.

Cast: Although the cast is the biggest issue I could face it is also the least likely to happen. Due to both my artists having work commitments I could have to reschedule filming dates to fit around that, especially as it is approaching Christmas and they could be called in at any moment. There is no way that I can prevent this from happening and if it does happen the only way I can overcome it is by rescheduling. This shouldn't act as too much of an issue as I may only need 3 days to shoot the video. Due to the time of day the shooting will be done I will need to get all/ a vast majority of the outside  shots filmed on the same day so that the lighting does not drastically change when I come to film the next day.

Journal: 17/12/12- progression/calendar

Over the past few weeks I have not updated my blog much as I should have been. The reason for this has been inability to film as of yet. I have also been using the sketch book I have been provided with to sketch any 'digipak' ideas I have.

In this time I have also been creating a google calendar to help plan shooting days, recces and photoshoot days.

Here is my calendar which shows that I hope to beginning filming on Wednesday 19th December and then complete forest location shots on Friday 21st December. I hope to film the main narrative and performance elements between Wednesday 2nd and Sunday 6th January before we return after Christmas. I hope to have all filming completed before we return so that I am ready to begin editing both my 'digipak' and music video when we return.
I have also listed a possible 'digipak' shoot for Friday 11th January.

EDIT: I have now included when I would like to begin editing my video which will be from January 7th.
I have also ran into an issue with my artist working on the originally believed day of 19th December so this filming has been rescheduled to 21st December. Although this has potential helped the filming as I can now create some test shots on the originally planned day which will allow me to test lighting for this performance element which will be filmed in a dark room with minimal lighting.

Journal: 05/10/12- Digipak Research

A Digipak is a style of packaging used commonly for CDs and DVDs.

Here are a few examples of recent popular digipak designs:

Rihanna- Talk That Talk (2011) Digipak, Insert, and CD

Muse- The Resistance (2009) Digipak, Insert and CD

Mumford & Sons- Sigh No More (2009) Digipak, Insert and CD

 Digipaks are most commonly used now for EPs and Deluxe albums. The digipak design is used instead of the usual jewel case used most by record labels. The digipak has a more stylish look and allows the artist to put more information on the case and also use the the leaflet inside to get across an image or to contain lyrics for the EP or album tracks.

Journal: 03/10/12- Mood Board

Mood Board on Prezi

Inspiration:

Ellie Goulding

Florence Welch

Hayley Williams

Kate Bush

Kate Nash

Lady GaGa

Videos in Forests (Inspiration for video):

Paramore- Decode

Florence + the Machine- Dog Days Are Over

Song choice Lyrics (with artist typography and 'Diamond' symbol)

Words that inspire narrative of video

Location with idea for video ('Diamond' cutouts hanging from trees)

Journal: 27/09/12- Logo [Amendments]

Chosen logo

Black: 

White:

Black diamond logo:

White Diamond Logo:

The second idea i came up with was keeping the logo fairly 'hard' using many sharp and straight edges to recreate the strength of a diamond. The font I decided upon was called 'diamond d' I liked this font due to its hard sharp edges and felt that it fit in well with the theme. I did however edit some of the text to add the gaps in letters such as 'D', 'A' and 'R'. For the letter 'O' I thought it would be interesting if I designed the letter to look more like an diamond, as the basic shape had already been created. I did this by cutting a few segments out. The original 'O' letter has been used to act like a full stop at the end of the name. I have also come up with the idea of using the 'O' diamond symbol as a symbol in it's self which would be able to be used across a variety of mediums without having to use the full 'Fragile Diamond. 

First draft black/grey:

First draft white:

The idea I had for the first logo came from keeping the idea of 'fragile'. This is reflected in the slightly disintegrated text and recreating a diamond shape with a crack going through it like the typical fragile sign which shows a crack going through it.

I will be doing some 'Audience feedback' sheets to see which design is more preferred by the target audience of my artist.

Journal: 24/09/12- Choosing a song

The process for choosing my song was very simple and did not take much thought. The song I have chosen for 'Fragile Diamond' is the song 'Howl' by the artist 'Florence + the Machine'.

I have picked this song as I felt that it fit in with the image of my artist. The song features heavy influences from rock and also gives the impression of a horror film within both the contents of the lyrics. But it also gives the feel of innocence and perhaps a loss of innocence which I think fits in well with the image I have in mind and also her name.

Journal: 20/09/2012- Choosing a name

After deciding my song choice and genre I had to think about what name I would give my artist. I did not want it to be an ordinary name and at first wanted it to be only one name like 'Madonna' or 'Rihanna'.
The song I have picked is 'Howl' by Florence + the Machine. Due to this being an Alternative track I did not want the name to sound too much like a Rock artist but I also didn't want it to sound too Bubblegum Pop.
Here are some names that I came up with:
Victoria- Not picked due to be a little too plain and old fashioned

Manhattan- Not picked due to being unrelated to both the song choice and my idea for the artists look

Tippy- Named after the 1960s actress Tippy Walker. Not picked due to being a bit too cute.

Monroe- Named after the 1950s actress Marilyn Monroe. Not picked due to being a bit masculine. Marilyn was also a name that was discarded.

Hepburn- Named after the 1950s and 60s actress Audrey Hepburn. Not picked due to being a little too irrelevent. Audrey and Tiffany were other suggested names that were discarded.

Ruby Tuesday- Named after The Rolling Stones song. Not picked due to having too much of a relationship with an exsisting song and band.

Ruby Diamond- Inspired by the name Ruby Tuesday I wanted to find a word to replace 'Tuesday'. I then came up with the idea of the name being two precious minerals. This is the name I have decided to use for my artist. [READ UPDATE]

[UPDATE]

After some thought a new name idea came to me. This name still kept with the precious mineral theme but changed it to sound less like an actual name and more like a stage name, like 'Lady GaGa'. The name I have come up with is 'Fragile Diamond'. I feel like this name is appropriate for the style of my artist because she has the edge and toughness of a diamond but is not so hard that her music becomes rock, hence the fragile part.