Evaluation presentation

Evaluation of our website

This is the homepage of the website we wanted to make it quite simple so we added a white background with bold titles and a bold picture. We wanted it all to match so we made it the same image as the one on the front of the digipack. In addition, we made the background have a crystallised look so that it links with the bands name "Crystal Code". We created the tabs at the top so they would be white and match the back ground and made it blue when your on the tab so its easy to see. After researching many different websites I noticed that the homepage usually has a bold picture at the top or in the middle so we decided to place ours in the middle of the page so that it catches the audiences eye. We've also placed the logo right beside the artist so it looks like she's looking at it and made the two C's at the side look like wings. 

The second page is the about us page where we have some animations of speakers that move and when you click on them they play one of the bands featured songs. Next to it is the bands song 'lost' with the lyrics. We made this so its easy to find and wouldn't confuse the audience. We placed the details on the left and a image of the artist on the right. We decided to make our website simple yet bold so that its intriguing but anyone that views it will know where everything is and won't get easily confused. 

The image above is a screenshot of the gallery this is simply images of the band categorised with the main artist first and pictures of the other members of the band after. This is because the bands image is of the lead singer. Again, it has a simple black background with a white one on top of it, on the left is a image of one of the band members with equipment and on the right are images of the lead singer. This is also easy to use and has a scroller to flick through the images with ought any hassle. 

The final page is the contact us page which has all the information to contact the band for example Facebook, twitter, email, address and beside is a form which the fans can fill in and send to the band, like fan mail but an easier internet version. Theres also animated cassettes on the bottom left hand side of the site which spin around and a little icon to click on the side to flick through the bands music.  Theres also a tour site which has all of the dates for when the band are on tour and previous tour videos.

My Evaluation

Diary entry 16: music video completed

Sophie and I spent the whole day finishing and perfecting our final official music video. We have finally finished!! YAAYYYY!!! 

Animation research

As i was researching various animations i came across this music video by Peter Gabriel- Sledgehammer. This music video was made in 1986 and was very good animation for its time. I think this is a very interesting music video and good because they use stop frame animation. 

Diary entry 15: Altering colourisation

In our media lesson my partner and I began working on and successfully finished altering the colourisation of some of our shots in our official music video. We have done this because later in the narrative shots the colour is more grey and barely any sun, where as in the opening narrative shots the sun is shining. Given this situation, we decided to alter the colour in the opening scenes in order for it to match the other narrative shots and therefore making it look more realistic. We also decided to keep the colour bright in the performance shots to show that there is a significant difference between the narrative shots and performance shots. Now that we have finished this all we have to do now is add the titles and some animations.  

Evaluating own album artwork

From researching on Google CD art work, I noticed that most CD covers have extreme close ups of the artists face, long shots of a particular setting or unusual artwork. Out of this selection I thought it would be best to use an extreme close up of the artists face looking towards the title. This album cover is bold and memorable  which helps the audience to connect with the artist and are therefore more likely to purchase the album. 










Examples of this: 

For the inner casing I thought it would be best to have another picture of the artist with accessories. In this picture the artist is holding a small clutch bag and is wearing lace gloves. The clutch bag is covering half of her face which is quite intriguing and mysterious. The artist is also wearing the same costume and makeup as in the front cover which makes it matching throughout the CD.   

At the back of the CD it consists of the name of the band, names of songs, bar code and a decoration on the side. I wanted to stick with the theme and keep the colours matching, so i just used black, white and silver. As I was researching digipacks I noticed that the back doesn't usually have images and usually inst very crowded. For this reason I didn't add pictures and left the writing simple but also added a border on the right hand side so it doesn't look plain. 

Final digipak choice

Sketch

 Outside casing 

 Inner casing picture 

CD

Final 

Digipak designs

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

OPTION 3

Diary entry 14: Transfer to final cut

Today we have completed the editing of cutting the music to the beat of the song. We've also added more performance shots to the video in order for the audience to feel closer with the character and to add diversity. We've transferred it to final cut pro and next we are going to alter the colour of some of the shots then add titles and transitions. 

Feedback from our first edit and the changes we made in response

After finishing our first edit we were all given the task to present our music videos to the rest of the class, collect feedback and use that feedback to improve our music video. Given the fact that our main target audience for our music video is adolescents, their feedback will be very helpful. 

After reading these feedback sheets and taking all the comments into consideration, it helped us understand how to improve and build on what we have created. The constructive criticism we received was that there weren't enough transitions and performance shots. My partner and I took this into account and added more performance shots. 

Diary entry 13: Editing process

My partner and I have finished editing all the major parts of the music video and got the images and singer in sync with the music. However, now we have the task of making sure each time we cut to another shot, its in time with the beat and flows naturally. In addition, we decided not to use the scene of the dog or other various shots as they were repetitive or irrelevant. We have also included two shots of the main character either staring at the camera or gazing out into the distance. These shots were used to show the audience that the character is in distress and in reminiscing about the past.

Software we are using

My partner and I began by using I movie to edit all the clips and adding the audio to it, after that we transfered it to Final Cut Pro so that we can add effects, transitions, titles and to finish all the editing.  

I movie HD: 

Final cut express HD:

Technology we used

Sony Handycam HDR-XR155

Very light, compact and easy to use with great video and still image quality, even in low light. Up to 50 hours Full HD recording on 120GB built-in HDD and more on optional memory card. SteadyShot Active Mode and iAUTO for effortlessly beautiful images. Its small and compact which makes it easier to carry around and is time effecient. In addition, this camera also has good battery life so theres a high chance it wont cut off during filming. 








Tripod

An essential piece of kit and a part of learning about photography is to know when to use a tripod. There will be times when hand holding the camera simply won't do. Tripods are used to ensure that when you record it isn't shaky , it is also easier to navigate the camera steadily and it will do more to improve your images. Tripods also help when you are trying to: take night time shots and sunsets, when you need to be flexible, when you are taking close up shots, when your filming action shots and when your trying to be creative.  

Diary entry 12: Beginning editing

Today Sophie and I have started to edited our music video as a whole. We've had a few changes in our idea for instance, ending the music video with jump shots of the main character walking away, instead of our initial idea of repeating the bath scene. We have also noticed that we might not have enough performance shots for the music video, resulting in us possibly having to re shoot.