PLANNING; Digipack, Poster and Music Video

Poster and Digipack

 We discussed our ideas for it as we wanted it to directly link to the music video. From our research we had both made it pretty clear that we didn’t want a performance shot because we felt they were less personal and failed to grasp attention on a shelf. After having a brainstorm with her (picture to the right) Cathy went away and drew up a couple of the ideas and then presented them to me for my opinion. Through all the sketches I felt a fairly plain shot with the artists full eye contact was the most effective. This is where a ‘mugshot’ style became our favourite of all the designs as it had all the aspects we individually wanted.



It has been clear from the start that Cathy would be the Artist as she is an attractive young female and has experience singing and therefore would find lip-syncing far easier than someone with no experience. She is also familiar with the song. This meant the poster and digipack would involve a photo shoot of Cathy in a mugshot theme position. I helped choose the background for which would be edited post the photoshoot and Cathy and I were fully prepared for it. I was unfortunately unavailable due to personal matters for the photoshoot but kept in contact with Cathy during and after and was assured it ran smoothly. The autograph (on the left) we felt had to actually be hand drawn instead of a fancy font on Word. So Cathy and I spent about 15 minutes drawing out different autographs in which we pick out favourite and had to scan it in through a printer and email it to our accounts.

The editing of the advert and digipack was done after we chose the best shots for our theme. This was using a standard editing software 'Photoshop' and 'Photofiltre'.  

Music video

From our experience at AS we decided to put our strengths to different uses. My main responsibility was the filming and post production because of my strength in making the ideas practical and effective in the most efficient ways. Cathy came up with the initial idea of a girl getting ready with her friends and after we had many discussions she drew up some storyboards. We both organised when and where for the shots in order to get the best conditions including weather and lighting. I was responsible for making the video more unique and relatable for the audience. I wanted the audience to be able to tell the storyline without relying on the music. I decided I wanted to use camera angles and mise en scene to portray this story, for example using specific colours like red to connote danger, passion and excitement, and camera angles looking up and down at characters in order to show power alinement. This is where my awareness to detail is to be shown. 

As Cathy came up with the initial idea of the music video we both felt she should create the Directors pitch. I created a list of props that I would need and sent them to Cathy in which she created a props list with both the props she needed as well as I. Once Cathy had drew up the storyboards, she then showed me them and I gave my feedback depending on how productive they would be and put forward my alterations and ideas to make them more effective to the audience. Cathy then took them away again and produced the final storyboards in which we were both very pleased with.  

As Cathy is the artist, I had more control over the filming which we both felt was my strength last year and I wanted control of the types of shots and camera movements. This gave me the final look at the sets for the shots and the ability to examine if they truly captured all that we want. As a lot of the shots are around my house I was able to control the mise en scene and find the best angles for the camera to receive the best lighting and the best position for subliminal messages e.g capturing the animal bed covers, to connote freedom and hairspray can to not only be another important aerosol in the video but also connote big hair lots of confidence, the lighting from the dressing table and also the bed lights to create an artificial glow even during day time giving the effect of night time. After studying the song we felt that the majority of the shots cannot be stationary because the music is too upbeat for it. This justifies my reason for using the handheld technique significantly in my music video. However there are shots in this video where I cannot be the primary camera person because either I am in the shot as a character or I am not old enough to legally be in a club yet. The shots that I am in we will use a tripod (or something giving the same effect) or Cathy will handhold the camera. Cathy also will do the club shots that I won't be able to and as we don't want them to be too staged she won't have to worry about the exact angles and movement of the camera. Thankfully there is not many shots I won't be able to film myself.




                                                       (Improvisation when lacking a tripod)
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As Cathy and I both know how we want our artist to be portrayed and the brand image we want her recognised for, we split the the job of creating the artists signature 'look'. Cathy has created the make up design as we both decided we wanted it to be a big and bold statement. As we had decided earlier that our artist would wear a variety of wigs it was my job to get hold of a mixture to vary the shots. This has consisted of red/purple long, black cleopatra shape, blonde curls, blond afro, black Ozzy Osborne, and a light brown bob wig. Realistically we are likely not to use all of them but it was important to get a selection. Cathy created the basis of each outfit for the artist which consists of;

Outfit 1 - Fitted black lace leotard top, suspender style tights, denim jacket

Outfit 2 - Orange boob tube, denim shorts, denim shorts

Outfit 3 - Pink lace sleepwear

Outfit 4 - Dressing gown

Outfit 5 - fitted black top, black and white shorts, black tights, heels

We then have both added lots of accessories for example Cathy added five crucifix necklaces  and I matched belts and nail varnish to the wig colours. The other characters outfits haven't taken as long to organise. The parents I want to be wearing the same or very similar tops to connote a unity between them. The angry neighbour we want to be in fairly boring clothing to contrast against the vibrant clothing of the artist. The friends clothing we want to have elements of fun and enjoyment but not too much as we don't want them to outshine the artist.

The editing of the music video is mainly my responsibility. I will have the storyboards for guidance however you can never be sure which shots may actually work better than the original plan. I will make a snip of the music video and show it to Cathy for her opinion and also show it to some of my target audience in order for them to give me feedback on how to improve. Using the variety of skills I absorbed through AS and my preliminary product, including using effects, on beat editing, adding soundtrack, trimming and cropping shots, speed alterations and many more I will hopefully create and immersive and captivating video that will attract my target audience as well as a wider audience.