First - Evaluation Question 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Digital Media – Research, Planning and Evaluation

The use of various online sites has proved beneficial during the research, planning and evaluation stages of my project. I used a blog on blogger in order to keep a chronological record of my project, which helped with accessing creative decisions and thoughts I’d made prior in the project – as seen by my referencing to previous posts, especially the experimental video clips. A slight issue with the site is how difficult it is to place images side-by-side on the posts; this issue was easily overcome through using Microsoft Paint to edit images together and otherwise avoid posts looking bear or irregular in their format, however it was still a slight hassle which otherwise slowed the efficiency of my project. The site was great in allowing instant feedback and response, specifically from my supervisor, with much of the feedback presented on the blog relating to the technical aspects of my project and how to improve them. There were some limitations to the blog, perhaps the lack of attention from friends and fans of my client as typically young people – who make up the majority of the demographic for Elsewhere Head – do not access sites such as blogger in their spare time.

Facebook is a more accessible means of attaining feedback which is why I often sought the use of the social media site, namely for contacting my client and sharing ideas and products quickly and easily. This mainly occurred within the use of the Messenger portion of the site, however, I could have perhaps created an online group or page to upload updates and content – the popularity of Facebook increasing the chances of feedback to better improve my products. Regardless, the use of Messenger was certainly positive in enabling me to maintain better contact with my client, as to suggest ideas for the products and organise the shooting of the music video. However, there is a limit on the size of the files that can be shared on this site which meant I was unable to share videos and certain content, blogger had the same issue and that Microsoft’s PowerPoint and Word files were not upload-friendly, which meant I had to use various uploading sites.

Utilising different sharing sites, such as slideshare, scribd and Vimeo allowed for me to better use the other online sites in order to gain feedback and help record my plans. Each site was rather useful and there was no issue in uploading to slideshare and scribd, however Vimeo was definitely restrictive in this aspect. A free Vimeo account had a weekly upload amount given to my user and so I could not upload videos in some cases. This was particularly evident with videos such as the long experimental video with real life footage and the video including the four songs my client initially gave me – the songs video had amounted to around 13 minutes. In order to overcome this, I had to upload to YouTube despite it having a longer upload time. This was not a major issue but again it certainly halted my progress on some occasions when I wanted to upload content quickly, struggling to transfer some videos to my home computer since uploading in school would not be viable due to some upload times of two hours or more. After uploading, I was able to then offer my own interpretation and evaluation of the quality of my products by assessing their effectiveness and potential areas for improvement – as to ensure the products are relevant and work well in relation to one another.

Software – Production

In terms of editing, I used Adobe Premiere Pro whereas in my foundation portfolio I had initially used Microsoft Movie Maker. Premiere had a lot to offer in terms of the range of effects, transitions and so on; developing my skills from my foundation project, I felt more comfortable in navigating the software and was able to edit and cut effectively. The use of visual effects such as Fast Color Corrector, Balance Gain and Saturation meant I was able to easily produce a range of colour in my music video – as seen in the sections which change colour on the beat. In fact, the ability to zoom in on clips allowed for easier cutting of footage and helped me create stop motion effects with images by looking at key frames and editing on a frame-by-frame basis.

One particular issue I found with using Premiere was the incompatibility issues I came across during the editing process throughout my project. I had a more updated version at home and therefore could not transfer project work from home and school, meaning some videos would have to be edited entirely in school or solely at home. This restricted my ability to focus on specific work and made editing rather inefficient as I would often lose focus or remember what each video needed – seeing as I could not finish it in one or two editorial sessions. I decided to simply isolate certain projects as a result however the software has been extremely useful aside from that.

Even in my foundation project I used Adobe Flash, already having experience in the use of such software through personal use and animation within my Extended Project. I used it again in order to create a small experimental animation, the video depicting a classmate vomiting vibrant pink liquid as a floating head in order to fit the psychedelic genre. The ability to upload images to Flash allowed for me to produce some stop motion animation of sorts with the PNGs however it was by no means the best product to use during the final production stages. Flash animations would take place in a separate window and since I needed to overlay animation onto live action footage for my final piece, I had to seek out some other software.
Flash also proved useful in allowing me to produce short animatics as opposed to storyboards. I used storyboards in my foundation project and even the early stages of production within my advanced project; I shifted to using an animatic as to aid with the editing process. This technique allowed for me to better visualise and block out key shots in relation to the song, this was essential within my advanced project given the nature of the products i.e. a music video. Editing within a music video requires a great sense of timing and I was able to better refine the edits to the beat by having the initial editing experience through creating the animatic. It was relatively easy to do and ultimately proved to be beneficial in the long term.

Unlike during my foundation project, I used After Effects during this project as to animate over some footage I shot. What was amazingly efficient was having the ability to link the After Effects project with the Premiere project, giving me real-time synergy between the two projects – anything I did in After Effects would appear in a separate open window for the Premiere project so I could watch the animations back and see how to improve them. Initially, I was unsure as to how the software worked, seeing as I was too intimidated to use it during my foundation project. However, due to the use of online YouTube tutorials, I was able to add these animations to my final music video.
There were some issues in using After Effects, namely not knowing where the animation was on the screen for Premiere; in Premiere I had included some black aspect ratio lines, or at least mimicked them by simply adding black bar assets in post. However, these black lines did not feature in the open After Effects project which meant I had to animate some sections of the screen that would not be seen in the final product – as to maintain consistency in the animation. Furthermore, the software did not have the same onion-skinning tool that I often used in Flash for frame-by-frame animation; this meant I would often have to visualise where certain lines were and essentially guess where the next frame should start, likely accounting for the somewhat erratic or shaky animation in some parts.

Adobe Photoshop was useful throughout the project, both within the video and the ancillary products. In terms of using Photoshop for the video, I would cut out images of the artist’s head and give them a transparent background – exporting as a PNG. These were then easily overlaid into Premiere to be edited as stop motion assets or animated over using After Effects; the use of real imagery with the vibrant animations had such a contrast that I was able to emulate the Dadaism present in the psychedelic genre. The process for cutting out each asset was long and laborious however there seems to have been no other means for doing this. I could certainly have used Microsoft Paint however I would likely not have been able to cut the image out as precisely, nor could I have created a transparent background; Paint was reserved for pasting images for the blog together.

Moving on, Photoshop also proved useful with creating the digipak products. The software allowed for me to construct abstract imagery through superimposing images over one another, the layering tool being incredibly useful in separating assets. I was able to produce different versions of the album cover easily and quickly since the use of filters and various colour or saturation sliders gave instantly new designs or palettes. There was also a liquefy tool that I used a lot for the back cover as to create a warped image to again reflect conventions of the psychedelic genre of my project. The software was also versatile in that I could edit images and add text, which proved especially helpful with my magazine ad and its production.

I did struggle with uploading some hand-written text as it would appear extremely pixelated when resizing it in Photoshop, however, to overcome this I simply used Adobe Illustrator in order to trace over the existing text and effectively digitize it and prevent the digital versions from becoming pixelated when added to Photoshop.

Hardware – Production

In terms of hardware I used a Canon 600 D camera, a Canon PowerShot SX510, a lightweight travel tripod, and an iPhone 7. The Canon 600 D was used in my preliminary video with various lenses, including a fisheye lens, but I was unable to use this camera throughout the project as it belonged to my sibling and had limited storage. The fact that I did not have a high quality camera of my own, led to me using the school’s Canon Powershot.

The Canon PowerShot was not as powerful as the 600 D – failing to capture high definition footage in low-lighting – and as a result often made footage grainy, I then attempted to remedy these shots as best I could in post since reshooting would not be a possibility. I believe I managed to regain some quality in the shots however, this could have been avoided had I had either a better quality camera or shot in a well-lit location (making it look darker in post). One positive to the Powershot, is how it was lightweight and allowed for me to do multi-cam set ups since the camera was rather common in school; the multi-cam setups even made it easier to sync footage and therefore cut between the wide shot and differently angled close ups.

The tripod was very useful for maintaining stability in certain wide shots, I used it especially during the section in the video prior to the character drinking milk - as to represent the stability of reality before the 'drug-induced fantasy'. After this section, the majority of shots are shaky and handheld as to represent the growing instability of the character's mental state; the wide shots of the trio performing in the television remain rather stable as to show the shift in power between reality and fantasy. The tripod was lightweight and therefore allowed for me to easily carry it from location to location, which was ideal given the range of positions I placed it in during the shoot.

When it came to recording audio, I did not have to focus on this area as much as in my foundation project. My advanced project ensured that the audio was a recording provided to me by my client, of which I had little to no control over however I am aware that he recorded using his iPhone as well. In terms of the iPhone 7 that I used, it was helpful in allowing me to record audio for certain portions of the video; I namely used the voice memo app on the iPhone to record sound effects from soundbible and another couple of sites. Ultimately, however, I decided to abandon the use of these sound effects from earlier cuts and instead settled for a royalty free ringing sound from YouTube which I then downloaded. The phone was also useful in recording audio for my other Evaluation Questions, ensuring the audio was clear and did not have much background noise. Additionally, I used the iPhone’s torch utility in order to provide light during my music video’s shoot – proving to be a rather reliable light source for illuminating the areas I wanted.

I suppose digital media and online sites such as YouTube also provided me some benefits in the production of my video, as can be seen through the use of royalty free sound effects and kaleidoscopic animations and background visuals. I suppose one of the limitations of using these sites comes in the form of the school's protection policy; I was unable to access certain videos of interest from YouTube or even remain in contact with my client through Facebook. The school servers had blocked these sites resulting in my progress being somewhat stifled - since I could not access areas of research during school hours.

First - Evaluation Question 3

Below is a link to my script for the first Evaluation question.

Evaluation Question 3 - Script

First - Evaulation Question 2

Below is a slideshare answering the Evaluation Question two.

Evaluation question 2 from Eughan Wooding

First - Evaluation Question 1

Below is a link to my script for the first Evaluation question.

Evaluation Question 1 - Script

Evaluation Questions - Plan

After the completion of my products, I now have to focus on producing some evaluations surrounding my project as a whole. Below I have included a plan as to how I will answer each question:

Evaluation plans from Eughan Wooding

Final Digipak

Below are copies of each ancillary product, however I have some comments about the final album cover.

On the front cover, I included the logo on the top corner as to act as a branding sticker or watermark of sorts. This is in order to establish the brand better and relate each of the products to one another under the same logo; in fact, this is similar to Tame Impala's use of stickers on his own album covers as seen through the following link.

Ad - Final Design

This is my final magazine ad, with all the necessary improvements mentioned previously. I rearranged the text layout as to ensure the text was clearly displayed; the lyrics are separated from the review section and the word "album" was corrected. A noticeable difference is definitely the inclusion of the title song's lyrics however I have stated that this was done as a means of subverting the conventions of magazine ads as to make this ad unique - the lyrics being included to also perhaps generate some interest into the album's release as it essentially acts as a 'taster', even having clear links to the video in providing the lyrics.

Another clear change in the design was the inclusion of the white space along the left side of the page. This was introduced due to the fact that I wanted to include the title used in the music video - as to clearly associate the two products but also in order to catch the attention of any readers due to the abstract and vibrant text. Within this white area I was able to better include the picture of the album cover; through this separation between the cover and the text, it is able to stand out more and clearly advertise the album depicted. I suppose that in some ways this white breach of the border looks like a torn page, and could therefore represent my client's disdain for conventions of the industry in literally breaking the mold. However, I see it as more of a continuation of the sky imagery since the design's waviness was used to emulate that of drawn clouds; I would have included some faced clouds (in the background) from some of the footage I had but this might have made the text harder to read and taken focus away from the assets - the blocked colour for the background making the images 'pop out' more.

Along the bottom, I have also included a small black banner with the appropriate information: advertising the release on iTunes, Bandcamp and the availability of the physical copies at HMV. I have also included the brand logo at the bottom as to clearly show that the ad is the property of the Elsewhere Head brand; the logo's usage here also helps to connect the products to one another and better associate them with the artist.

Overall, I would say this album cover is successful and effective at providing the necessary information typical of magazine ad conventions. However, the challenging of convention by including the lyrics is still an acceptable choice in my opinion - since psychedelia is inherently subversive of most promotional media.

Ad - Semi-Final Design

Here I have included a copy of my magazine ad design, the ad aiming to promote Jack's Elsewhere Head album Weird Sky. In order to continue this promotional material maintained some cohesion, I again reverted back to using the green and pink palette that has been present within my print materials. I also made the border appear a little away from the edge of the page, similar to the square used on the album. In terms of the layout, I moved the assets of Jack along to the side as to make room for the title above and beside him, the subheading being used to generate excitement over the release of the new album and perhaps intriguing the reader into delving deeper into the article.

As for the text, the article is gibberish found from the description of a Lorem Ipsum site, rather than the Latin itself. Nonetheless, this acts as filler for the real text that would go there if this were a real product, the text required to produce a legitimate article and interview of Jack being something I have not the time to do and so I settled on substituting in the text to show the final design, This technique was offered to me by my brother who does graphic design and was therefore able to offer me insight into the creation process here. In the design included here, I notably included the text in the format of an interview. I have since decided to not include the interview as I believe such a format would perhaps advertise the artist more so than the album. Perhaps I could repurpose this area of text and place the lyrics for the title song as to generate some interest into the content of the artist's music.

The fonts used for the titles and text are from the font site dafonts which I found earlier in my project, these proved extremely useful in allowing my product to look unique and professional as the text wasn't created using stock fonts from Photoshop. The fact that I used fonts that weren't standard and widely available within the base program, I managed to create a seemingly unique piece that has professional and distinct looking text. In this I'd regard the print work a success.

I have included the necessary star-rating and comments from necessary sources such as the Guardian and even Liam Gallagher - another musical artist whose opinion might be trusted. These reviews go alongside the image of the album's front cover to make it recognisable when purchasing the album. I did notice that some album covers include reference to where they can be purchased but I have not included this - something I intend to add in the final product. Additionally, I am aware that I incorrectly spelled "album" and will of course remedy this in my final design.

Ad - Initial Design

This is the initial idea I had for the ad, with no text having been included since I was unsure about it and wanted to see how I could improve.

For a start, the background is a little plain. I thought it would look like a professional promo shoot if the background was plain white however it just makes the images feel really flat and is rather too plain to fit in with the rest of the project or with the conventions of the psychedelic genre. I use a number of Jack heads, increasing in size, to line the right side of Jack. The inclusion of the image of him with a guitar is to promote him as an artist but also display his musical ability - his marketability not being in his physical style or 'coolness' but in his musical ability, that being what he wants to be judged on. As you can see, I included a yellow border like in the Motley Crue ad that I looked at, the white area at the bottom was likely going to be an area filled with comments and a star-rating but I do not feel this design is as good as it can be.

For a start I would like more room at the top for Elsewhere Head to go and maybe some more text, like a heading.

Ad in a Mag

Below, I have included a SlideShare of my research into the format behind promotional ads in magazines:

Research into the structure of ads in magazines from Eughan Wooding

Inner Sleeve - Album Cover

I was inspired by the vinyl disc designs of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, which I discovered during my research. Notably, these discs include a splattery dissipated marble effect of sorts, typically with an intense amount of colour. I have no intention of creating a disc design for the album - since Jack would be using his own store-bought discs for the physical releases of the album - and therefore decided to use these designs to help create an inner sleeve for the album template.

The sleeve I created was a zoomed in crop of the white wall featured in the music video, the shadows being later saturated and coloured and placed through a Photoshop art filter in order to create the sprayed colour effect. The colour palette is consistent throughout the rest of the product and therefore helps to keep some semblance within the album as a whole, adding to the plausibility of this being a real product - which I aimed to create - as the palette maintained its consistency. One note to raise about the origin of the image I used could perhaps be that it helps with the entertainment and discussion of the product among fans: knowing the bit of trivia, that the inner sleeve comes from a screenshot in the music video. would likely help create a connection within the fanbase and to the artist - almost like an in-joke. Those who are aware of where the image came from are likely to spread the fact and make each product more appealing due to the cross-media relation between the two; this fact almost acts as an 'easter egg' of sorts, again linking to the Uses and Gratification theory of surveillance and knowledge. The final sleeve being pictured below:

Final Back - Album Cover

Here, I have clearly demonstrated the final process for the back cover design. I returned to the desynced layering of Jack's image and made the top layer a little more realistic in its colour as to distinguish Jack from the more saturated background. I also undid the new liquifying from the third design and made the background more colourful, focusing on the pink and green. Blue is still included but more in Jack's image, the brick background remaining largely unaltered apart from its colour. Within the images included here, the end product really stands out in how the ooze section - which was to include the track list - was made shorter in order to allow for some space between the list and the necessary copyright material.

The final product includes some text and a barcode as to make it seem more real - when in reality Jack does not need these retail and copyright materials as he only needs a front cover. I inspected a couple of back covers and created something faintly reminiscent of the official copy right text - outlining the text to make it clearer. In terms of the track list, I again hand-wrote the list as to make it seem more indie however I had some issues in Photoshop as the image became extremely pixelated and could not be read when reduced in scale; I was forced to trace the text in Illustrator and transfer the file to Photoshop but nonetheless maintained the 'hand-written' style that I originally aimed to create. Below is a copy of the final back cover:

I have even included some examples from backcovers that I used as reference points in order to write some text about copyright, with a link to Jack's bandcamp also being provided.

Back Designs - Album Cover

Following the design process for the back cover earlier on my blog, I decided to use Photoshop in order to further develop a psychedelic back cover for the Weird Sky project. Notably, the key images used are Jack (the artist) and a brick wall - the photographs being taken by me.

The First

Within this design, I tried to layer Jack's image and make the under layer a lot more saturated, hoping the desynced look would prove to be quite an interesting choice - alluding to the that same distortion seen within the front cover and throughout the video, as to symbolise drug use to adhere to conventions of the genre. I later include this layering technique in the final product, however the other designs in this post showcase my experimentation without it. Another point to raise is that I included the use of the liquify tool from Photoshop, adopting the same technique and design idea from my experimentation with Henrietta Harris' work. The colour palette used is a mix between green and pink and blue however I was unsure as to how I would proceed with the blue, the reason I included it was in order to make Jack have a very 'cool' and calm image as an artist - nonetheless I eventually come to the decision to reduce its use on the wall.

The Second

In this second design, I made a few changes to the first as I realigned the images of Jack as to make him stand out more, the issue is that his image is blended on both layers making it difficult to see him, especially due to the use of the liquify tool. On the topic of the colour used, I made the overall colours more saturated as to make them eye catching like the front cover and continued the colour palette of green and pink from the front. However, with the green ooze on the left (which was to contain the track list), I considered changing to pink and making the background green; I'd essentially invert the colour choices as to keep with the palette on the front but by flipping the background to be more green, I'd perhaps create some dissonance between the front and back that would appear quite artistic. But it doesn't look as good as I'd hoped...

The Third

As stated above, my third idea proved to look rather amateur and was not my final choice for the back cover. I flipped the text box and coloured it hot pink, then I liquified the image of Jack further and added a filter for the brick wall in the background to blend it better and make the image of Jack stand out. Overall, this design is an eyesore and the colours clash far too much, there is little change in colour or tone in this back cover. Jack doesn't stand out very clearly and the back is far too different from the front to create any sense of cohesion in the product had this been my choice for the back. In the end, I decided to use ideas from the first and second designs more in my final product than this third design.