Filming

Today I filmed the roof shots, the final shot in the box of the 'Crazy Jessie' and the flashbacks. I am very pleased with them and I am going to start editting them tonight to see what still needs to be filmed; I know that I still need to film the bath shots however we got very cold on the roof and I didn't want Grace to then get wet and be cold.
I was allowed to take a lot of equiptment home with me during half term which was very useful so I should be able to get a lot done.
Below is a video of the crane that took us onto the roof:

Kim's crane from Caroline Birks on Vimeo.

This is my cousin who brought the crane round for me

This was the crane that was used.

Film Crew at My House!

So, my house is being the location for a TV programme that is going to appear on Channel 4 in the Aumtumn 2012. The show is called "V.I.P" and it is a series comedy sketches; the one that was filmed at my house was about Grand Designs and the sketch was a mockery of Kevin McCloud.
It was really enjoyable to see what happened behind the scenes, meeting the cast and more importantly the crew. I explained to them that I was shooting a music video at my house and they gave me their details if I ever wanted work experience at Elstree Studios!
I enjoyed looking at the equiptment, noticing how long it took to take just one shot and especially the different shots they took whilst they were at my house. I noticed the angels they used and hopefully I can use them for inspiration in my music video.
Below are some pictures that I took whilst they were filming:

Aeroplane

I had booked to use the aeroplane yesterday, on the 10th of February, however because of all of the snow, the aeroplane company had to cancel all flights which is very annoying. They offered me that I could have the 22nd of February instead however that is a school day and it doesn't leave me much time to film afterwards if the aeroplane shots don't go to plan.
So instead I am going to include shots of Grace going up in the crane that I've managed to get for the shoot and more of just her on the roof rather than from the plane.
This is annoying however I need to get over it and think of new ideas that I can use instead.

Audience Feedback of 2nd Cut

Today in class, we showed eachother our music videos so far so that we could gain comments from one another. The comments that I recieved included:

• good range of shots
• the song really matches the genre and your choice of character for your artist
• your outfit changing run is amazing.
• -
• love the jump cuts at the start as she's in the box.
• you still need to include that black shot as she throws her coat that you spoke about
• she lays on her front then her back however this looks quite good
• opacity needs tweaking a bit as they look at one another through the glass
• love the bit as she runs in the corridor
• again very convincing - going to be an excellent video overall.
• -
• good use of literal lyrics
• good costume changes - they have real meaning
• like how she walked towards the camera and sings when she's "Crazy Jessie"
• really good ending at the moment when she runs to camera
• like the change of costume as she runs towards camera at the end
• good use of editing programme features
• lipsyncing is very well done
• - 
• good quick shots and angels
• good effects
• may need a few more shots of her not singing
• you need a few more effects.

I was very happy with my audience feedback and will hope to do this again once I have completed my music video. The most popular shot seems to be when she runs towards the camera and her outfit changes, what I like about it is that I have times her limbs to be in the same place as she changes between 'characters' and costumes. What I need to improve on seems to adding and playing around with the effects some more which I will do for the next cut of my video.

2nd Cut of the Video

Kim 2nd cut from Caroline Birks on Vimeo.

Here is the 2nd cut of my music video, I've added around another 40 seconds and this cut finishes at 2.29, after this I want to film some flash backs that I want to include throughout the music video where she's wearing the shirt and then also her falling into the bath and struggling to get  out.

I still need to film the roof shots and the possible aeroplane shots which I will do in Half Term (10-18th Feb).

The Different Characters of Jessie J

Looking through Jessie J's music videos I've realised that she normally has more than two costume changes so below are the different costume changes and what they represent:

This is the main Jessie character that we see, it represents how she shot to fame and how she feels lost in a world that she's not used to. She feels like she needs space from herself to figure out who she really is and why she feels so trapped. The Alice in Wonderland box represents how blocked she feels from the real world.

This Jessie is the newest character; she is the Jessie that was before Jessie J was famous. This will be where all the flashbacks result back to. The simple shirt shows how innocent she is, it looks basic and resembles a clean sheet before it was dirtied by the music industry.

This is the Jessie that I refer to as the "Crazy Jessie" its more of her imagination playing against her and resembles what she could turn into if she forgets why she sang in the first place, for the love of music more than the fame. Her outfit is crazy to emphasise the difference in characters.

More Filming Planned

I am going to continue my filming tomorrow, the shots that I want to get are Grace alongside my house, flashbacks on the swing and possibly the underwater shot.
I am going to use mainly my camera however if I want to create more coninuity I might also use one of the school cameras. I will also be using some of the lighting and maybe even the wheels on the end of the tripod if I want to cirlce around her.
I might also try and get some shots for my digipak which could include the 'Crazy Jessie' through the sunroof of my pink car, her posing in the box and other shots of her around the house.

Editing the Storyboard

Here is the edited sections of my Storyboard:

Getting on the Roof

Today my Dad went on the roof of my house, here are some photos that he took whilst he was up there and from when I was on the groud looking up, to make sure that it was safe:

I like some of these shots with a foreground and then something in the background as they look really pretty

This is my car that I might want to do some shots in for the digipak.

 

I like this long shot against the house, I will use this idea to put in my video.

Here my Mum passed my camera through a window to my Dad so that he could take some photos whilst on the roof.

Rethinking

So I've decided that I want to cut a section of the song out so that its shorter as when I made it before I used sections of the song that weren't needed and I have changed my mind on certain ideas that I want to use.
I still want to use the roof of the house for certain shots and I am still going to try to use the aeroplane to achieve this however I have though of other ideas that I can use if things don't go to plan.
On Saturday I'm going to have a look at the roof of my house with my Dad to make sure that its safe enough to start filming on and I am going to continue filming the weekend after, however I might get Grace to do a few shots including the flash backs during the week next week.

Digipak Research

Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) are used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. Because such packaging is less resistant than jewel cases, it tends to show signs of wear relatively quickly. Digipak-style cases grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s.

Historically, Digipak was only available in large quantities. However, AGI has recently introduced a new product called digipak i-create for the consumer market. Digipak i-create is a web-supported concept that is aimed at the download, music, photo and creative markets
.

Digipak covers are generally similar to normal album covers, in fact the only considerable difference between the two is that digipak’s contain a DVD along with the CD, they are similarly laid out with a main cover, usually with an image representing the band or album, a track list on the back and the discs inside contained in plastic trays.

Here are some examples of digipak style cases.

After checking out some digipaks first hand I found out that there dimensions are

13.8cm in width

12.5cm in length

and the spine is roughly 6mm wide

all digipaks tend to include several if not all of these attributes

• Record label name, with copyright symbol beside it
• Website
• Bar code
• Tracklisting

Each digipak is also slightly different to another in the way they open up. Some are the same design as a CD case, others upon up in a gatefold style, and i have seen some that work similarly to a book, as in the CD tray sits in between two outer covers.

Then to further my research I looked through the NME magazine and found various forms of advertisement for digipaks. I found that there are various sizes and pages that these advertisements could go on, there were some that were about 1/8th of a page and were put underneath articles throughout the magazine. Some adverts were took up half of the page and others are full page spreads.

After thoroughly analysing these i noted that each advert contained at least one of these things:

• Artwork
• Band Name
• Album Name
• Website
• Label Name with copyright symbol

I also noted that a lot of the adverts had the HMV logo on them. This could suggest that the advert is not merely for the band but possibly for the shop it is sold in

From these examples I found that the adverts can also come in different sizes in magazines. so I found out the basic costs of the different sizes of advertisement in NME.

Full Page: £3,920

Half Page: £1,960

Quarter Page (4 columns): £1,120

Quarter Page (3 columns): £845

Possible Ideas for the Digipack

I've had a few ideas that I might use for my digipack:

1. I have a pink car witha sunroof; I was thinking about having the crazy Jessie standing through the roof singing to camera in some of my music video however I don't think that it really fits in with the video so I've decided to use this idea for just a photo instead.
2. I might include some of the shots of her in the bath/pond with her looking scared and lonely
3. I've also taken some shots whilst filming of her in the bedsheets and also of her in the box that I might use.

Styles for Digipack

Jewel Case with 4 Panel Insert - This is a pretty standard packaging option for CD albums.  You get a full sized jewel case with 4 panels of print on your insert.  Plus, you also have a tray card that can be printed on both sides.  This gives you 6 panels of print space total.  You can let your graphic designer go wild with their creativity and still have plenty of room for your credits, track listings, and even lyrics.


4 Panel Digipak - This is a popular choice these days for independent musicians.  The digipak is made of cardboard stock that is printed in full color.  The cardboard is then folded together to make a sturdy case.  Finally, a plastic tray is glued inside to hold the CD or DVD in place.  If you opt for a clear case, you’ll have 4 panels of print space.  But if you opt for a colored case, you’ll have just 3 panels since the tray will be glued over the top of one.

Slim Jewel Case with 2 Panel Insert - This is similar to the jewel case, but it has one key difference: the slim jewel case has no room for a tray card.  This makes it only half as thick as a standard jewel case.  Slim cases are compact, lightweight, and great for protecting your disc during distribution.  However, because there is no spine on these cases, they aren’t ideal for storage and organization.

 Enter Shikari - A Flash Flood Of Colour
This is the 6 panel digipak which has pockets to fit the CD and DVD into, the last two photos shows the booklet that comes with it with even more photos and the lyrics on it too. I quite like this idea as you can do a lot with it however it will take a lot of work to do. I also found that surprisingly this was the more expensive style of digipak than the other two (below, both Pink's and A Day To Remember's) that used jewel cases.

Pink - Funhouse: The Tour Edition

This digipak by Pink is like a normal CD Jewel Case except that the DVD flips out on the back of the CD, this means that on the inside there is a place for another photograph, in this case Pink riding on a horse. It also comes with a booklet which you can see on the inside of the Jewel Case.

A Day To Remember - For Those Who Have Heart 

This casing is also similar to a normal CD Jewel case but once again the DVD flips out but in the inside this time and not to one side. It also carries an advertising leaflet for "Victory Records" and the booklet for the band's digipak on the inside. This digipak also came with a casing which is a good idea as its another piece of material that can be used to emphasise the band and what the digipak is about.

- All of the digipaks come with stickers showing the barcodes, pricing and labels explaining what songs are in it and also what more the customer is getting than if they were to just buy the CD. Pink's digipak also includes a Parental Advisory sticker which could be because there is a lot of swearing in her songs.