Farewell

It's been a good time, no? We've had our ups and downs, of course your stubborness to not allow me to freely orientate my pictures being one down. But overall I've had fun.

I think my main strengths this year have surely been in the blogging. I've been googling away and away searching for new softwares and websites to use every single week. And personally I am very proud of my progress throughout the year. The timing was rather tight as we entered the evaluation period but that was something I had to deal with and well...we've made it.

 It's been a pleasure blogging about my experience from the very first day looking back at the small 1 minute clip of a music video remake to a huge project including a professional piece of ancillary work. It's absolutely astonishing what you can learn in such a short space of time. From not knowing how to open files on Final Cut Pro to editing an entire music video, this experience has taught me many skills that I won't forget. It was a joy playing a part in the music video, acting and lip syncing more than two words this time and waiting an hour for the train on a wet soggy Tuesday afternoon. There's not many things I like to hide from my friends and family, but for all the good reasons, I think my music video CD will stay locked up in a cupboard for many years.

I would like to mention a special thanks to my teachers, Marisa and Louisa who have supported me through my journey on blogger. Without their support, none of this would have been possible & to Trevor who was always a call away when the computer wouldn't listen to me. Also a mention to Einas in group 24, who didn't support me during this experience but still suggested I thank her. I hope you've all enjoyed the journey from start to finish.

I bid thee,
Farewell.
skn.

PS: Now the Blogging and Media coursework is over, I can finally get back to Saturday nights away from blogger (not that I hate you blogger) and back to my (online) social life. Here's one last technology for you. Peace.

EVALUATION QUESTION 4

QUESTION 4 by LeonCross

Above is the amazing feedback I recieved on both my ancillary product and music video. I've spoken about the main things which I felt I've learnt and picked up from the Audience responses. I would like to give a special thanks to all my peers who gave me valuable feedback and helped me to understand the effect my media products have had on target audience.

EVALUATION QUESTION 3

As Prezi did not let me upload my animatic, I have uploaded it below. Final Cut Pro and a normal digital camera was used to create this digipak. The Animatic was useful to set me out an idea. Without the Animatic, I would probably not have had a clear idea to follow & would have had to waste time trying out different shots.

EVALUATION QUESTION 2

So Glogster decided to go on a maintenance break as soon as I hit the save button on the website, and well it didn't save. So I decided to go one up and beat Glogster by creating my own presentation with Photoshop.

Take that.

Nazim 1-0 Glogster

Comparing Olly Murs' combination of his music video and digipak is very similar to ours. We both are aimed towards the same fan base and have successfully used music to improve our image. The importance of synergy within media products, is essentially to stamp down your artist with their own unique features.

Looking outside of the pop genre, other artists/groups who aim to establish themselves with a unique combination within all their products is N-Dubz. The font used by N-Dubz is carried on throughout almost all their media products. This font has become a well-known label for the band due to the way they manipulated the writing over their products.This is one way, I can see synergy benefiting an artist or group and gaining popularity for them

 By looking at inspirations such as Olly Murs and N-Dubz, we have been able to understand not only how to use Synergy, but why and in what way. This has been a very insightful research, and how surely bettered my outlook on the combination of media products.

EVALUATION QUESTION 1

REFRESH IF ERROR OCCURS WITH PUBLICATION ABOVE**or alternatively view the document through this link: issuu.com/nazimuddin0/docs/1_merged?e=10589563/6458970

• Illustrative - He is singing about the love for the girl whilst expressive his love in the narrative.
• Guy chasing over girl - he offers her gifts and presents. Also sings to her to show love
• Playful atmosphere - they are at the beach
• Camera work is mostly mid-shots which show both characters & their top clothing
• Editing includes many cuts throughout the music video but especially near to end of verses

• Illustrative - Artist is singing 'Hey You Beautiful' and serenading the female actor
• Same guy chasing girl storyline, girl doesn't seem interested at first but then eases up later on.
• Similar playful atmosphere, most shots filmed at the park.
• Camera work is mostly mid-shots, there are also a few long shots 
• Editing, there are many cuts to the beat, including from singing to the camera then cutting back to the narrative.

EVALUATION - MY OWN FEEDBACK

So I wanted to look back on and evaluate all my work from the very start to the very end. Let's start off with the music video:

Bearing in mind this was the first time I had anything to do with acting on camera, and more important lip syncing I think my acting was done rather well and didn't seem stiff or uncomfortable on camera. With pop artists, they've always got to  put forward a fun likeable personality through the camera, and I think that with some of my (not so good) dance moves and energy, I was able to do that. In terms of the video itself, it's applying to all the conventions as well as following the plans, which was always a good thing as if we ever got stuck or confused along the way we could always refer back to our plans. Some other groups didn't do this and completely ignored their plan, this meant when some disagreements occurred over their new ideas, they didn't have anything to look at such as a plan directing them. With us, however, the plan was always out in front of us during the production and ready for us all to expand on. I think we picked 3 very good locations, which looked good on camera and matched the feeling of the music video. The lip-sync was perfect and the costume also conformed to usual conventions. We paid particular attention to the clothing in the MV, therefore had to do a lot of research to find what style of clothing is most popular among female audiences and our results showed us shirts, and smart clothing. I personally feel as though the cutting was done well and we switched across base-tracks effectively. During filming we also maintained the 'invisible line' of 180 degree's and this really helped the production of our MV as it meant that no clips were confusing to either us nor the audience. If I could go back and change one thing, it may be to improve some of the narrative or film an even better shot for the starting few seconds. Although the view across the skyline was good, I think there can  be better clips recorded to introduce the song.

Now onto the ancillary. I was more-so proud of my Ancillary than any other work I had produced in my 18 years of life. I put a lot of time and dedication into this, working off teacher and peer feedback trying to improve at every step. Having a look back over it, I can proudly say that I did follow all the forms and conventions you'd expect to find. I made sure that I was aware of, and following the Do's & Dont's. The colours picked, were not out of the blue (haha see what I did there), but were chosen for a particular reason explained in my plan, as was every other layer. I think the image looks very bold and striking. This was very important, taking in mind that we have a female target audience so I feel as though the image has reached out and appealed to the target. The rule of thirds was also evidently followed as were many other conventions. The track-listing at the back along with the extended track-listing on the inside links the two panels together and 3 of the 4 panels all are linked together through the braces. The advert also features the braces, making it clear that it is combined with the digipak product and all belonging to one. I've made sure, that even with changes to the style and layout, compared to the digipak, that the synergy and link between all my media products are clear. The text is very easy to read and placed in order of importance where necessary. I've also worked out digging in the finest details to add professionalism to my work, such as the copyright info on the CD and the serial code on the spine. This has made for a better Ancillary product all over. If I could change one thing, I would possibly add in some social networking links to promote Leon Cross' twitter and facebook, keeping the fans involved and engaged on a closer level.

Putting both MV and ancillary together. I feel as though I've been successful in creating two media products which are of great standard and follow the usual styles which we see in the modern pop era. My research has enabled me to create a replicate of what we see among famous pop-stars and take inspiration from the many ways they build their characters and promote their own work. This has been a very long and fun period, during which I produced both products. But as I look back, I think that is was very successful, and I cna now be proud of my efforts

Mood(in form of a very well produced music video):

ANCILLARY - TRANSITION FROM DRAFT TO COMPLETED

**Unfortunately my front cover video valued up at 32GBs' in size (o_o) - so it could not be uploaded

Ancillary - Finished Product

Ancillary - Planned, Tweaked, Improved, DONE!

Below are my 3 Ancillary products, the front cover of my Digipak, the back, and the advert. Now that it is completed I can finally sigh a breath of relief. I feel pleased with the work I put it, and worked to my plans as much as possible. I carried on my main ideas and styles, whilst also working with teacher feedback to improve synergy across all products. Since the draft, I added on the background to the inside left side and also completed the track-listing and 'thanks' on the insides. I also worked on teacher feedback, adding the braces as a background to the advert cover. Personally this wasn't in my plans, however after taking advice I was gutted that I didn't think of it first! I liked how it created clear links between all 3 products, making sure that when the album does finally come out, no-one will be able to get the image of braces out of their mind. This has been the main image which was carried across all products. I also made a few corrections, such as ensuring all title fonts are of the same style and font. 

The album was also cleaned up a little. I knew at the time of submitting the draft that it was waaay too congested. My eyes did hurt a little by looking at it for too long, however now I have reduced any unnecessary text and reorganised the text layers, having the most important at the top, and the more 'less important' at the bottom (with all due respect to Sony BMG). Finally i added a black outline around the album, this made it stand out a lot better and sit clearly on the album rather than blend in & be missed out on. 

Thankfully however we are finished! Now i can work on my evaluation notes and get working hard as the deadline is fast approaching! 

Music Video                               Ancillary Work

Ancilary Feedback

Ancillary - First Attempt

It's A Work In Progress...

Here is a work in progress for my Dikipak. So far i have stuck to most of my original plans, but had to work around plans that did not look so well. I am yet to get some feedback from teachers in the next lesson. I asked a fellow student for their opinion and they thought it looked professional and well structured. One thing which they did not pick up on, is the braces on the CD in my inside panel. This was rather disappointing as it was one of my largest. I personally chose the idea of having the barcode and record label in the centre of the back. I thought that this looked better and did not make my copyright information seem almost 'trapped'. As I progress, I am looking out for any errors or places where continuity has been missed. For example, on the CD 'To Get Her' is capitalised whist everywhere else it is in normal thin text. These are the type of things i will look out for, in hoping to create a perfect digipak! :D 

I can confidently say that i feel prepared approaching the deadline and will continue to work on it over the holidays, ready to recieve teacher feedback when we return! 

Ancillary - UPDATE! Changes and Tweaks

Changing The CD Design

So I ran into a problem. Yikes! The idea in my head of the CD design inspired by Olly Murs, with the eyes looking up, wasn't looking so good when I actual went and put my plan to practice. That was quite a shame at first, since it was a really good idea which I felt added a twist to our CD design. However, I put my miseries to end and used this opportunity to come up with a couple more designs and styles. The idea of having the braces on the CD was one which I had to try out. This wasn't just a random selection, I used this opportunity to continue on the idea of braces, combining my music video and ancillary work together through clothing. This made it much more clear that the two pieces of work (music video & ancillary) belonged together rather than something which was out of the blue and an almost random picture. 

Now I've begun to believe that the eyes picture not working out was actually a blessing in disguise as my disc looks A LOT better with the image of the braces on. I will probably still work on the opacity of the image, making it a little more clearer, but I thought the colours and design look really well. With the first image, I would've had to also add in a colour for the background of the CD, and it may have looked pretty plain. However this design has offered that ongoing theme and synergy not only between the 4 panels of the CD & advert, but also my music video. Quite evidently, I've also added in a template of a CD design, and made the circular middle transparent in order to make the product seem a lot more professional. These are just basic tweaks and touches I am making as I work along, and hopefully there are many more to come during my journey to creating the perfect digipak!

Ancillary Research & Planning - My Ideas

My Final Ideas

After many days and late nights, I have finally come up with and agreed on my final decisions for the ancillary work. This took a lot of thought, as my creative side brought up many ideas and picking between them provided some difficulty. I had to test out a couple of fonts, images, colours and turn very long lists to short-lists. It was by no means easy and a quick decision, but I finally got there in the end. My research overall consisted of Google, HMV, iTunes, TV adverts, magazine adverts, billboards and many many artist websites. I was certainly going to put a lot of research into this project, as it was the first time we got a chance to be independent, and able to use Photoshop to produce a Media Product this year. My previous experience with Photoshop, gave me the confidence to allow my creative side to speak out and come up with thoughts and layouts which I knew were possible. So, without further delay, here are my final ideas for the Ancillary work for Leon Cross' new album ToGetHer.

These are the first words which popped into my head when sitting down to work on my ancillary project.

To make simple, I was planning to create a simplistic feel for both my advert and digipak. I've always preferred album CDs which were simple and showed the artist, rather than trying to be all creative and causing a mess. As I am only a student, I didn't think I could successfully pull off a 'creative' design with all sorts of ideas going on, and opted for my preferred clean and smooth feel to the cover.

Digipak Layout

The idea was to keep synergy through all products, whilst also keeping it as basic as I could. However basic didn't mean boring. I thought that this look made my product much more professional and attractive to the eyes. I visited HMV only a few days ago and spotted recent X-Factor winner, Sam Bailey's CD sitting high up the shelves. I instantly was attracted to the CD and felt to purchase it, purely for the aesthetics. It looked very smooth and of great quality. Although I am not a fan of Sam Bailey, the front of the CD made me pick up the disk and have a look at the back and consider a purchase. I knew we were dealing with a Pop CD however so had to keep in mind I couldn't have the plain black background on back and front as the X Factor have done, so used the braces to add a little spirit into the digipak.

My idea to have the text under the face of the artist originated from these 3 albums. I liked the look of all 3, as they weren't too overdone yet still very attractive. All 3 have a close up of the artist, which is something I will intend to implement into my own work. This is what seems to be conventional to me, and is used by top artists because it is what simply works. Having the artists close up face makes the album easy to identify for fans and the wider audience, also helping those who may not be familiar with the artists work, recognize how the artist looks and look out for him in other media products. Therefore, the text had to placed underneath the artists face. This ensures that text will not overlap the artists face. I could have added a black bar on the top as Justin Bieber has above, however after assessing the usual pop conventions and Leon Cross' style of music, I decided to have all text underneath.

This image was the inspiration for the idea I wish to use on the 4th panel of the Digipak, more specifically on the actual CD. I was unsure on whether to actually have anything on the CD apart from the album name and artist name. This image however gave me the idea of involving the artist onto the actual CD. When I first came up with the idea of having the artists eyes at the bottom of the CD, I couldn't recall where I had got this idea from, but I found it really unique and interesting. I then came across this Olly Murs image again, and noticed it was the inspiration behind my ideas. It makes the CD clearly relating back to the artist and is another way I was able to incorporate synergy into my work. I also plan to make the colour of the CD, the same as the background gradient colour that I will have on the front panel. This helps to make obvious that they are all of the same project. Having continuity will make my project look a lot more professional and conform to the conventions of digipaks.

Fonts

Above is a Prezi I have constructed explaining my decisions behind font, inspirations and the final decision made.

Colours

For the background of the front cover, I am planning on using a gradient coloured background. I am still pondering on whether to use a horizontal, vertical or circular gradient but have tried many possibilities and liked the look of them. During the production of the Ancillary work, this is something which I will play around with and keep note of, in order to find something I feel perfectly fits. However I have shortlisted a couple of colours to keep in mind during the production, to make my methods of testing easier. I hope to use either Blue, Black, White or Grey. Blue would be my first choice, however due to having a Blue shirt on the front and the blue shirt with braces images on the back and inside cover, I wouldn't want any clashes or blending in with the colour. I hope not to bring too much attention to the background, but rather the artist himself, which is why I wish to have a plain gradient colour background with nothing else going on. Black, White and Grey are also neutral colours which will bring out the artists blue shirt and face even more, this is why I have shortlisted them for choice.

Pictures

The pictures i chose for my Digipak and Album had to be conforming to the ideas I had in the plan, or at least very similar. Therefore we used the college's camera for a photoshoot at college, taking pictures that could be used. It was rather wise to take pictures after the planning, as we were then able to make the right poses and correct distance within pictures. When taking the pictures, I wore the same outfit worn during one of the base- tracks in the Music Video. This is to create synergy between the two products, and also continue creating an identity with Leon Cross. Below I have chosen pictures which are suitable for my Digipak. As the pictures taken by camera are originally quite big, the close up picture will not have to be necessarily taken close up. I could rather crop out the top of some medium shots and still keeping the image size and quality intact.  I also took this opportunity to get some pictures for the back and inside of my digipak,

 

Advert Design

The inspiration from the advert came from various other adverts. With an advert, there weren't many clear conventions on the layout and design so I had a lot of room to customize it to my preferences. I came to the idea of having a landscape layout as it seemed to give me a lot more room to add the information I wanted, such as tour dates and Leon Cross website address. During the mock-up, I felt rather restricted with a portrait landscape and didn't like how everything felt too close together. Having it landscape, makes my advert look a lot more spacious, cleaner and thus more attractive at a quick glance. Next I drew inspiration of having an actual image of the front cover of the Digipak on the advert from various artist adverts, such as Bruno Mars, Drake,  Olly Murs and even Rihanna. As the advert will be used as a form of promotion, it would be wise to have the actual products image on the advert. This also created synergy between both products and gained awareness of the appearance of the CD cover for potential customers. The font style and colours will be the exact same as those used in the Digipak. This shows a form of continuity over all products. As the font I have chosen is specially for Leon Cross and a type of branding, I would definitely have to use the exact same font in order to be able to use my font to full effect.

It is quite clear that my inspirations are a combination of many artists adverts. There is not clearly one that I have taken all my ideas from, but rather bits from each and including my own ideas. For example, I have taken the idea of continuing background, font and image of the CD cover from Olly Myrs advert of Right Place Right Time but rather than having a track listing will have 'Including the Brand New Single..', which I have taken inspiration from Tinie Tempahs Disc-overy album advert. I also plan on having ratings from other pop magazines and websites, similar to that of Plan B's advert.

None of the album adverts above however have mentioned tour dates. This is something I had personally decided on, in order to fully promote Leon Cross's rise in the Music Industry. As I don't plan on having a new image of the artist on the advert, I have a lot more space to play with, so have incorporated Leon Cross' tour schedule into the advert.

 Since I am going to be using Photoshop to construct the ancillary work, I had decided to get used to the software again and produce a photoshopped mock-up to help explain my ideas even better

Here I attempted to recreate all 3 mock-ups from before, to help me come to a final decision. This one includes the artists face and a 'X' background, which is referring to his surname 'Cross'. Although when recreating this ad, I did like the overall look and feel. I felt that the image of the star took up too much space and it couldn't be reduced in size. Also as there was already going to be the face of the artist on the CD cover, I was being cautious not to over-do the synergy, with the X and another solo image.

 

To the left is the mock up of the portrait advert. I decided to have the entire body of the artist standing. This also took out the possibility of having the tour dates but had a picture (full body) of the artist that the audience wouldn't have usually seen before. This didn't look too bad at first, however it did mean the text at the bottom slightly clashed with the dark coloured trousers I had in the photos. The research I had done also had steered me away from choosing a portrait image. Although for my artist, having a full body image could be worked around to conform to rules many pop artist adverts, such as Olly Murs did for his debut album, have practised but I felt that it would not look very professional. Also as my digipak will follow a clean, sleek feel, I felt that having less images on my actual advert would help keep a simplistic feel throughout all products.

This is the final design which I have chosen to replicate. This means that I will have to complete the CD Cover before I can complete the advert. The things I liked about this advert was that the text was clear and obvious, with the date and album name being the largest layers on the page. This makes the most important detail stand out and obvious at the top of the advert. Furthermore I have had the opportunity to add in Tour Information and 'Including 9 Brand New Singles' in order to further promote Leon Cross and make the album seem much more attractive. The idea of the new singles gives the fans an incentive of being able to listen to never-released before songs by their idol, this will follow the purpose of the advert, to sell and promote the album in maximum ways.

Final Words

So now I have completed my research and planning, I am set to go on and get started on my ancillary work. To reiterate my main design plans, I wish to have a simple design. The artists face and a simple gradient background will take up the front panel. There will then be an image of the back of the artists braces on the back panel of the CD. This image will be slighting blurred out or made less visible in order to make sure it does not interfere with the track listing or any production info at the bottom. The interior first panel will include the front of the shirt and braces, creating synergy and using the braces as a trademark for Leon Cross. The CD will not have much done, except for a picture of Leon Cross' eyes and hair at the bottom of the CD.  The gradient background will also follow onto the actual advert. The advert cover will promote the CD, tour dates and Leon Cross as an artist.

Going into the actual production, I feel positive due to the vast amount of planning and preparation I have done. Over the Christmas Holiday I hope to have finished both ancillary products to a good standard, and then be able to work on teacher feedback straight after the holiday. Compared to the ancillary project I briefly worked on in AS, I feel way more confident this time, understanding the conventions with pop digipaks and adverts as well as having understanding of why I have come to the conclusions above, within my own planning.

Now that the plans are over, it is time to start getting to work! 

Ancillary - Extended Research

Research

To support my research, I visited the local HMV in order to have a look at a couple of digipaks which fit into my genre and opposites to my genre in order to build up an idea of what I would need to do with my own ancillary project. 

From this research, I was able to take back some creative ideas used by current artists. I was also able to compare the differences between different types of albums. I most liked Sam Baileys album cover as the front looked very similar to what I wanted to create in my digipak. It was a very simple design with gold font which stood out. The close up image also stood out a lot more than the others without any image on the front panel. All the CD's were 4 panels, this told me that this is the usual layout of CD's. All of them also showed some sort of continuity from the front to back, whether in background or images, which will I will have to try and implement into my own work.

Ancillary - Working on Design

Working on Design & Research

So I had my hand at Photoshop today, trying out some different styles with my ideas. At College I was only able to use Photoshop Elements, which although is very similar, has some differences on the Mac Computers which I did not feel too comfortable with. I also wanted to carry on some more research before coming to a final decision and did some more research on fonts and styles used by well-known popstars. I also had a look at some digipaks from previous years and came across a couple of amazing ones, this for me has raised the bar as it makes me want to work even work to produce a Digipak which is just as amazing as theirs.

 

At the current moment, this image reflects my mood towards the Ancillary work and my confidence whilst approaching it.

Ancillary - Planning Pitch

In 5 words describe the overall theme/style of the ancillary product

Sleek
Simplistic
Clean
Attractive
Bright

Outline how many panels your digipak will have

There will be a total of 4 panels. 2 outer and 2 interior.

State where your magazine advertisement will be placed

Newspapers (Guardian, Independent)
WeLovePop Mag
Entertainment Weekly

State where you got your ideas from

Various student work, Various artist albums (Olly Murs, Tinie Tempah, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Kanye West), My amazing creative brain

Teacher Feedback

Teacher seemed interested with what I had planned especially the eyes on the CD panel, and how i would implement it. Also asked to show some places I got ideas from

Reflecting on Teacher Feedback

As you will soon see, I have gone back and done tons of research. Some of my ideas have changed a little, and when I get a hold of the pictures from the photoshoot I will see whether my idea looks as good in actuality, as it did in my mind and in drawing.

Ancillary - Mock Up of Digipak Design

The Mock-Up!

So I did a quick mock-up of the Digipak today, (badly) drawing out the main ideas I wished to interpret into my ancillary work. Now of course to get everything perfect as in my head will be near to impossible, but as like our storyboard with the production of the music video, I hope that I can follow this plan to as perfect as possible, only making changes where necessary. I presented both the inside and outer panels to my teacher, who was impregssed with the idea I had with the CD. I will make a much more detailed post later on, explaining my choices and help you guys to make out what the sketches actually show and where the ideas came from as this post is just to show progress on my ideas. I must honestly say, this for me is the most exciting part of Media since I picked up the course in A2. I absolutely love using my creative side on Photoshop and have millions of ideas. Unfortunately this might cause some issues during the actual making of the ancillary, when all my ideas try to be put into one, so I'll have to certainly watch out and ensure that everything is looking clean and crisp right till the end!

Advert 

For the advert, I had mocked up 3 versions; 2 landscape and 1 portrait. At the time I was much more interested in using a Landscape layout, as it gave me more space to use and worked with the ideas I had in mind. I also worked with the ideas from other pop albums to create my own mock ups. I looked at Olly Murs recent album cover and gained inspiration from the idea of having the actual CD cover on the advert. I will create a much more detailed post showing inspirations for each decision I had made upon constructing this advert.

For now, this is the rough mock up:

 

ANCILLARY - Font Research

Nazim and I were looking for the second font to use for the digipak since our initial font was too old to use throughout

Hey You Beautiful - Leon Cross (Final Product)

26. Alan, Doan, Whitney, Nazim from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Screen on The Green!

Today we went to watch the our Music Video on the huge screen near our cinema. It was a great experience to watch all the other groups music video including the teachers special. We also had an opportunity to get feedback straight after the viewing which should be very useful when it comes to evaluating our work.

Here is the video I took of the LIVE reactions during the cinema viewing. I'm sure the reaction speaks for itself, and as a group we are very pleased with our final product

Upon leaving the cinema, I was greeted with kind words and praises for my enthusiastic performance, I have to admit I did feel proud with my effort put in, and tried to give 101% during the production stage and editing. Although I tried to be modest on the outside, my insides had replicated the high level of pride and happiness with the final product, as is on Steven Gerrards face below. 

ANCILLARY WORK - Test Shots

Since Nazim didn't bring his costume, we decided to do some test shots of possible ideas for poses the artist would do.