Production Diary 15 - costume planning, digipak initial design layout

This week I managed to get the costume planning task done. I noted the kind of costume, hair and makeup I want the artist to have for the music video. The overall style I aim to achieve is quite simple but bright. I also found some images to illustrate these ideas. I looked on clothing websites which were aimed at my target audience for ideas for the costume.

I also finished the initial design layout for my digipak. I used the same font throughout the digipak which was “A little sunshine” as this made it looks consistent. I altered the font to make some variation within the text by making the name of the artist in a bolder style than the rest of the text. I also make it in capitals so that it would stand out more than the album name as it is the most important piece of information on the digipak. For the back cover, I put the tracklist in capitals and aligned in the middle of the lines. I also added in other details such as the barcode, logos of the companies related to the digipak and the copyright and production details. I decided to include these bits of information because I thought it would make my digipak look more professional.

Digipak initial design layout

I created the digipak on InDesign using a page size of 210 x 210 mm. I used 4 pages but only designed the front and back cover as I intend to put just images on the inside pages. For the front cover I put the artist name and album name on it, with the artisit name at the top and the album name at the bottom so the image would fit in the middle. I made the artist name in capitals, in bold and in a larger font. For the album name I used lower case and capitalising the start of the words with a smaller font compared to the artist name. This created a contrast between the two names.

For the back cover I added the tracklist and other details such as the barcode, copyright information, company logo etc.

Costume planning

Costume Planning

Props for music video

I made some props for my music video using paper and cardboard. Firstly, I sketched out the image on paper with a pencil and then coloured it and outline it with a black marker so that it stands out and makes it looks neater. This is important because I want to make it clear to the audience what it is as in the music video it will only be shown for perhaps a couple of seconds so I need to make sure they can recognise what the object is.

I then cut the piece of paper out and stuck it onto some cardboard using a glue stick. Finally I cut out the cardboard following the black outline of the object.

Production Diary 14 – risk assessment, location recce, location contract and call sheet

In this week’s lessons I managed to get a few of the pre-production tasks done and some of them started. I completed the risk assessment as well as the location recce. I then started to complete the location contract and call sheet in preparation for the shooting of my music video which is likely to take place in the next two weeks. I also completed the personnel details task.

For the risk assessment I had to identify some of the possible risks that I would need to consider for my music video shooting. These included: health and safety, personal injury, damage to equipment and halting production. Since my music video will be shot indoors there are perhaps fewer risks than out on the streets for example. However there are still some risks which need to be taken into account such as tripping over objects in the studio.

For the location recce I had to mention the details of the location including the address and note the advantages and possible issues with the location such as access to it. I also had to take a photo of the location.

In the personnel details tasks I listed the people that would be involved in shooting my music video. Along with the people’s names I also had to write the role they were playing as well as the equipment required for the role.

Completing these tasks will ensure that I am prepared to shoot the music video as soon as possible.

Personnel details

Personnel Details

In this task I stated the details of the different roles required for my music video shoot such as the director and actor. I also mentioned the possible equipment required so that I could check this list whilst preparing for my music video shoot.

Call sheet

Call Sheet

For this task I had to make a note of the details of the people and equipment required for my music video shoot. I also stated the date, time and location of the shoot so that the people attending the shoot would be clear on when and where to go. I also briefly wrote what I'll be filming so the actor can prepare for it.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

This risk assessment demonstrates my awareness of the possible risks that may occur during the making of my music video. These risks include health and safety, damage to equipment, halting production and personal injury. I mentioned the type of risk, ways which I would try to minimise the risk and who is responsible for it.
On the day of the shoot I will make sure to check over this risk assessment to avoid these risks.

Production Diary 13 – storyboard, anamatic

Since I have changed my music video I have been working on my storyboard which would bring me a step closer to shooting my music video. For the storyboard I sketched a rough idea of each of the shots I want to shoot for my music video. I also stated the type of shot and the lyrics that would be heard at that point.

For a lot of the shots they showed the singer singing to the lyrics and there were also quite a few shots which had props to display the lyrics.

After I have completed my storyboard I plan to make all the necessary props for my music video so I will be ready to shoot it as soon as possible. Some other tasks I intend to complete next week include the costume planning, photographs of chosen locations and props list.

Afterwards, I created the anamatic which consisted of the sketched scenes in my storyboard. I scanned in my storyboard to make the animatic which consists of the scenes I illustrated in the storyboard. I created this in Adobe Premiere and synced the images with the song so that it created a moving version of the storyboard. This roughly sketched out what my video would look like. I then uploaded it onto YouTube and on my blog.

Anamatic

I created the anamatic using the sketched scenes in my storyboard. I cropped each scene and saved them as separate images. I changed the colour of the image so that it was slightly brighter and sharper as the colours of the scanned image was not too good. I imported them into Adobe Premiere and also put the song in so that I could sync the images with the song.

Storyboard

Production Diary 12 – digipak design layout and altering music video idea

I started to make the layout of the digipak on InDesign. I decided to have 4 parts for the digipak –front cover, back cover and 2 pages inside.

After much thought and discussion with my teacher I have decided to alter my idea so that it would to allow me to create a music video which would look professional. The fault in my original idea was creating a theme and being able to find a variety of ways to present the lyrics in an interesting way. As I got on to plan it I found it very difficult and different from what I had expected. My original plan was to have a lyric video without showing much of an actor but now I have decided to make the video a playful performance which interacts with the lyrics. I kept the main point of my original idea which was to do with the lyrics but instead I am going to be focusing on the actor more compared to what I had planned for my original idea.