Ancillary Task: Location

We were happy with the look of our model, but we will have to rethink the backdrop- the dead trees give the images a sinister look, something we felt contrasted the look we were hoping to achieve.

Due to this, we have considered and decided upon shooting in a different, greener area for our second photo-shoot.
Thinking about the locations we have utilised already, we decided to take the second shoot in Hall Place: 

The location has a wide range of all year round greenery which would be ideal for our backdrop as well as keeping continuity as we have already used this as a location in part of our music video.

Ancillary Task: Photo Shoot 1

After conducting our digipack research, we decided upon the look we wanted to achieve for our CD front cover. In the research we conducted, we were inspired by a number of things which enabled us to produce our final look.

For instance, from our research we established we wanted to photograph mainly/ only mid-shots and close up shots for the CD front cover, as this was a regular occurrence. We conducted a photoshoot to test these types of characteristics and found that overall it was a success as we, as a group, liked the idea and the look of the model which we felt matched our music video.

We felt the idea of peace and tranquility of the outdoors mimicked/ represented the music genre in the way it is presented to its target audience. However, our location did not reflect our research as looked particularly dead and lacking in light. We will have to research further into this as the lack of natural light affected our overall result as the Golden Hour photography was not successful and her face is in shadow rather than lighted as wanted. 

Research into DigiPack (Gaia Earth Child)

As we intend to keep our music video and digipack following the same theme, ie an earth goddess, we have researched further into the overall look of this. Although gaining inspiration from previous digipacks, we looked into the artistic representation of an Earth Gaia. 

 Typically, an earth goddness, the look we are trying to achieve in the music video, has long curly hair, flowing clothes, pale skin with neutral make up. The overall look is extremely natural. A sort of floral crown is also used. This is a look we wish to recreate. 

We have already used the earth crown in the music video with the use of the outside, although in our music video this is focused more on the urban areas before moving to a pleasanter view. We will be looking to shoot our images for the digipack outside, incorporating the use of nature as shown, particularly in a grassy areas with trees etc. 

(Research: Hannah)

Summary of the Ancillary Task Decisions

After looking at the research, we have decided that our model will have a simplistic, "earthy" feel to her as this will link well with our video. To ensure that we get this feel to the digipack and the magazine poster, we have made some decisions about the mis-en-scene. 

For the make-up, we felt that having a simplistic make-up which conforms to our research. Our model has extremely blue eyes, which are her main feature which we want to exploit. We plan on having a light brown eyeshadow with minimal framing to provide definition which will make them more noticeable in images. We will have natural lips and will keep her overall skin tone as pale as possible to match the Gaia child research. As our model has a heartshaped face, we will be adding a pale blusher to frame her cheeks and add definition. A natural eyebrow will also be used.    

The model's hair will be kept natural and curly as we feel this will work well with the natural, simplistic look we are going for. By using the natural light as well, this will also add a halo-like effect to the model when the sun hits her hair. We are aiming to make the hair look 'fluffy' to ensure this halo effect can be achieved. The model herself has extremely curly hair so this will require minimal styling




In order to make the model look even more, earthy and correspond to our Gaia earth research, we have decided to have a floral garland headband in the model's hair which will also match the one we used in our music video. We aim to select a daintier form of floral headband to ensure the model looks delicate.  












For the model's outfit, we plan to have the model dressed in a flowy white, 3/4 sleeved top. We feel that this will link well to the video and maintain the simplistic and pure effect that we gained in the video by using the white dress. The dress that we use for the music video, or a floral based dress, may be used as well if we decided to do a long shot. 

This is the look we are trying to achieve.











Front Cover:
After looking at our research, we have decided that a close-up shot of the model's face will be the best shot to use for our front cover. 

Inside Picture:
The inside picture will be a long shot of the model, and this is where we will use the dress from our music video.

CD:
The CD itself will remain plain as this is most like the research we have looked and we feel this will link well with the simplicity of our other ancillary tasks.

Back:
The back is going to be a mid-shot of the model, however we plan to have the model turning away slightly from the camera in order for the sun to capture her portrait.

Poster:
The poster will feature a mid-shot of the model, most like from her chest/shoulders upwards as this fits well with the research we have looked at. We still have to plan what colour and what type of font and the general lay-out of the poster.

For all of our ancillary tasks, we plan to use the natural light again like we did in our music music video and have the model standing outside sort of interacting with some form of nature as this will link to our overall "earthy" look we wish to have. 


(Initial Research: Danielle, Edited: Hannah)

Ancillary Task: Digi Pack Specific Research

For our group specific research, We decided to follow the same pattern of artists and looking into the same genre of song as our music video. Birdy, the artist of our song, is an indie singer/ songwriter so we looked specifically into this for our digi pack. 

The material of their clothing is quite plain, light, smooth and bright; reflects the genre of music (indie). Female indie artists, such as Lorde, follow similar traits in clothing, which is why we aim to base our photo-shoots for our digipack with the key characteristics of smooth, earthy, feminine attire. The hair is normally natural, in keeping with the theme of the song, usually with some form of wave or curl. As we have used curly hair in our music video we will keep with this decision as this is also supported by our research rather than the straight, more plastic or superficial hair styles. Curls also allow a halo of light to be captured as shown in the Lorde image. 

• These four examples are all example of close up shots used of the front cover, very common with digipacks.
• In terms of makeup/ styling, we can note that in all 4 cases they have strong/ striking eyes with quite simplistic makeup on the remainder of the face. Hair is styled in a manner which makes it stand out, typically with a natural wave. In 3 out of 4 of these covers, a hand is also present in the shot as a means of posing. This is something to consider during our own photoshoot although we wish to remain natural and not too stilted in terms of posing.
• The name of the artist is presented in uppercase font, generally at the top of the CD cover, along with the album/ single title although we will do specific research into that.
• Lastly, we can also note that both black and white and colour images can be used which is in fitting with our music video.

As a group, we decided to have a close up of the model's face for our CD cover. As the image will simply capture her face, styling for an outfit didn’t need a great deal of thought. We drew inspiration from the Pixie Lott album cover, liked the idea of the model wearing a shirt, so a collar is visible in the shot. We also liked the use of hair accessories on the Pixie Lott album cover. We decided that it would be of good use to have some sort of floral headwear, to make her look more “earthy/ indie”, our ultimate aim.


(Research: Danielle)

Digipack: Initial CD Cover Makeup Test Shots

We began to test with some ideas we had for our digipack photoshoot as we were unsure whether we wanted to stick to the curly hair, soft eyes and natural looking persona and instead try a bolder look as sometimes music videos do not necessarily match the digipack. 

We decided to test both and see which we preferred. We decided to try a stark contrast between our video and have our model with straight hair, dark smokey eyes and bold red lips. 

This provoked a mixed reaction and after a group discussion we decided that all a good look for a more 'plastic' video, this did not fit to the genre of music we were going for and looked odd. This look would be more suited to a pop video. 

For this analysis we decided to conduct further research into the earth Gaia look we have decided for the music video as this ruled out any 'plastic' mis en scene.  

(Make up: Danielle, Analysis: Hannah)

Ancillary Task: Digi Pack Initial Research

It is very common for the track list to be placed upon the back cover of the digipack.

As a group, we decided it would be wise to follow this trend. We are yet to decide upon the particular look of the back cover in terms of colours, images, layout etc

.

As we can see, some back covers are simply just the track list, whilst other consist of images. We particularly like the use of nature in our music video so may use this as our back image for the digi pack. 

(Research: Danielle)

Rough Cut

Here is the final edited film that Rosie edited from footage we have filmed over the last couple of months. This is our rough cut of the music video but has helped use decide what we still have to film and also provides us with a better vision of our final finished video.

After finishing this final cut we sat down as a group and combined with the input of our teacher we have come up with the following strengths and weakness's.

Weaknesses

• The model is walking too much and there seems to be no real meaning behind this from the video. The purpose of our video is for a journey although this does not translate through the video. 
• The first section of the video where she is singing into camera is rather stilted, as if she is performing rather than the aimless singing which we initially hoped. We need to correct this by filming her from a different angle, so her lips are only just visibly singing. 
• The cuts of the scenery in the opening sequence of the video works well initially, however, this is then also used on the waterfall section which then becomes tedious to watch. This will need to be edited in a different way to add variation.  
• The dance section is not at all how we would like it to be filmed, primarily due to technical issues. We have since sat down as a group and decided the ways in which we want the dancers to be filmed. we have decided to film the dance move by move, rather than in whole from different angles, to ensure we gain good quality from different angles and this can then be edited together. We have analysed the poor quality footage we currently have to come to this conclusion. 
• We need there to be a connection between the dancers and the model to make them fit better. we have decided to have them bump into the lead. 
• In the final section of the video we see the lead singing into the camera. We like the actual look of the model, however, the framing is too central and needs to be rethought. We are considering using the rule of thirds and placing the lead in a third of the shot. 

Strengths

• Good continuity
• The shaking at the start of the video and the clips of the everyday people link well. 
• Rule of thirds used well throughout apart from the final section which needs fixing to ensure this is consistent throughout. 
• The introduction of colour as the music volume increases is good.
• The tracking shot of the everyday people works really well. It was filmed while being on a bus so we plan to alter the technique slightly, possibly using a car, so we can control how fast we travel and film the people. 

(Edited: Rosie)

Ancillary Task: Poster Research

(Research: Katie)