In terms of the website, one thing I would definitely reconsider on a future occasion is using internet fonts. The server I uploaded my website on to didn't recognise any fonts unless they were default iMac fonts and therefore the stylish ones I had selected became defunct. They were changed to bland, unaesthetic fonts that didn't quite capture the same mood that was created by the ones I had chosen myself. This is something I could not change or influence and it was only after the website had been uploaded that this became an evident problem. Fortunately I have the screenshots of how the website SHOULD look on a previous blog entry so you can clearly see how it is meant to look. I had taken special care to ensure everything was coherent, not only within the website but in all the pieces I created, and the screenshots will ensure that this is the case.
Fortunately this does not change the content of the website and once you have overlooked the differing fonts, the website itself still boasts the same modern touches as shown in the images.
I am very pleased with the website overall and think that it works very well within the Digitized brand. The podcast works particularly well and it was great fun to make. As explained in the blog entry concerning the podcast, I felt it was worthwhile creating it to demonstrate our understanding of how important video interaction is in the 21st century. I do feel, on reflection, that to really emphasise this point I should have persuaded the rest of the group to film another - perhaps a more in-depth behind the scenes video. Obviously we were very wary of time and didn't want to prevent editing the music video by working on other things, particularly in the light of the problems I explained in part 1. The podcast served to show how well we got on off-camera, particularly myself and Scott, and that natural camaraderie we have transferred well in to the footage. I think this teaser entices the 'viewer' and helps them form opinions and speculate as to what life in the band is really like. Although this is clearly all for argument's sake, it was important we considered every aspect of the band and their relationship with the audience.
Aside from that I'm pleased with the appearance of the website and the content I have included in each page. I enjoyed designing it as I had a clear vision of how I wanted the Digitized brand to be represented in its online product and feel it delivers the interactive effect I desired.
In regards to the digipak I feel that it was a little more difficult to design/generate any new content that hadn't previously been explored on the website. Therefore I stuck to a lyrics section for the song 'Pogo' and a tracklisting guide for the album that Digitized were releasing. Although this was relatively basic and, perhaps, unimaginative, I couldn't think of what else I could include that would make the digipak stand out. I decided that at least with lyrics it had been done before by professional bands and at least showed that I recognised what had worked successfully in the past. The themes and colours work well though and I'm very pleased with the front cover. The design is innovative, edgy and mysterious, which is perfect to provoke a reaction from audiences. There are various connotations that can be drawn from the image (young adults are similar to one another/without a mirror reflection you can't always see the real you, etc...) although there is nothing blatantly obvious to be drawn from it. The intrigue this provokes is exactly what I hoped would be the case and as a result I'm very happy with it.
Both products required a lot of hard work to design and get right but ultimately I feel I created pieces that were in keeping the Digitized brand. Clearly there are things, as I have mentioned, that I would do differently if I had the chance, but with all things considered I don't feel there is too much more I could have done without the benefit of hindsight.
Thursday 3 January 2013
Evaluation Of The Process (Part 1)
With the music video, supporting digipak and website now complete and ready to be viewed, I felt it appropriate to evaluate the process from beginning to end.
Whilst overall I am very pleased with how all 3 products look and fit in to the Digitized illusion I created, there were elements of the production stage that didn't quite go according to plan. It quickly became apparent that when undertaking a project such as this you needed to be prepared to change plans at short notice. Whilst I think myself, Scott and Cathy were very well organised with the plans we did put in place, we didn't quite factor in the potential hiccups we were going to face. As such, we had no continuity measures or back-up plans to fall back on when things that were scheduled to happen didn't.
One such example is with the filming. We laid out before our first on-location shoot just when we wanted to film, what equipment was needed and what we needed to wear - which was important for mise-en-scene purposes. We all noted the dates we planned to film and at that stage we were content that it would all work out. However, as we approached those dates, particularly ones half-way through the filming process, we found that we weren't all available to film. In none of the instances could anybody be blamed for not being available as we all have other commitments that we needed to consider, but it certainly threw a spanner in the works because we had to delay certain pieces of filming. In turn this altered what we were able to edit and sequence together because we weren't shooting the video in chronological order, so it wasn't as if we could piece together the things that we had managed to film.
As a result of this problem we were forced to arrange filming times at short-notice in the winter and hope that none of us became unavailable. Fortunately at this point things ran smoothly but looking back on it I think we would probably all agree that we should have come up with a contingency plan in case of unforeseen circumstances - as difficult as they might be to predict.
Another problem we faced in terms of filming was something that was ultimately beyond our control but will certainly be something we have to consider much more should we do a similar project again in the future. The weather was not kind to us on some of our night shoots which, to a certain extent, is to be expected in November/December, but it felt as if it only every rained/dipped below minus temperatures on the evenings we were going to film! The rain made it impossible to film because if in on scene we had dry weather, then moved to a scene where we were all drenched, before moving back to a shot of us in dry clothing again it wouldn't look at all professional. This delayed us on a couple of occasions. The freezing temperatures proposed different problems for us. Whilst it wasn't impossible for us to film, we were all required to wear very few layers to play our characters and therefore we were actually on occasions too cold to film. Wrapping up warm was just not an option as we were filming a 'night out' as typical teenagers. Therefore, our costumes had to reflect reality and in the real world people don't go on a night out with big coats and gloves on.
In the end we managed to shoot in a much more mild period of December and overcame the problem but it did make us a little nervous that we'd miss out deadline. Fortunately though we were able to use a few more hours editing to ensure the video was completed on time.
To counteract these problems I'd suggest that in future we'd need to consider how necessary it is to film externally on an evening, particularly during the winter. If we still felt it was appropriate we'd need to perhaps begin filming earlier in the autumn (to coincide with the academic year) and not even consider the digipak and website until after we had completed all filming. This would mean we would not be out in the middle of December attempting to film and would instead be creating our websites during that time. In hindsight this makes logical sense but at the time we were keen to begin all 3 tasks simultaneously to keep on top of things. One thing I think it is safe to say I have learnt is that you shouldn't take on too much too soon - pacing ourselves would have been a much more effective idea.
One thing that did make it easier to deal with the difficulties we faced was that we worked together very well as a group. We had a mutual understanding of what the Digitized product was and as a result we were all on the same wavelength when it came to how we filmed/edited. Teamwork is the single most important thing when working in a group because ultimately without each other we would not have been able to film a music video. We were all very friendly before undertaking this project but I think we're even closer now having experienced the highs and the lows of producing/directing/editing a piece of footage accessible to millions of people worldwide on YouTube! We adhered to the deadlines and our storyboards which made the whole experience feel like a great success. I enjoyed working with both Scott and Cathy and wouldn't hesitate to do so again in the future.
Whilst overall I am very pleased with how all 3 products look and fit in to the Digitized illusion I created, there were elements of the production stage that didn't quite go according to plan. It quickly became apparent that when undertaking a project such as this you needed to be prepared to change plans at short notice. Whilst I think myself, Scott and Cathy were very well organised with the plans we did put in place, we didn't quite factor in the potential hiccups we were going to face. As such, we had no continuity measures or back-up plans to fall back on when things that were scheduled to happen didn't.
One such example is with the filming. We laid out before our first on-location shoot just when we wanted to film, what equipment was needed and what we needed to wear - which was important for mise-en-scene purposes. We all noted the dates we planned to film and at that stage we were content that it would all work out. However, as we approached those dates, particularly ones half-way through the filming process, we found that we weren't all available to film. In none of the instances could anybody be blamed for not being available as we all have other commitments that we needed to consider, but it certainly threw a spanner in the works because we had to delay certain pieces of filming. In turn this altered what we were able to edit and sequence together because we weren't shooting the video in chronological order, so it wasn't as if we could piece together the things that we had managed to film.
As a result of this problem we were forced to arrange filming times at short-notice in the winter and hope that none of us became unavailable. Fortunately at this point things ran smoothly but looking back on it I think we would probably all agree that we should have come up with a contingency plan in case of unforeseen circumstances - as difficult as they might be to predict.
Another problem we faced in terms of filming was something that was ultimately beyond our control but will certainly be something we have to consider much more should we do a similar project again in the future. The weather was not kind to us on some of our night shoots which, to a certain extent, is to be expected in November/December, but it felt as if it only every rained/dipped below minus temperatures on the evenings we were going to film! The rain made it impossible to film because if in on scene we had dry weather, then moved to a scene where we were all drenched, before moving back to a shot of us in dry clothing again it wouldn't look at all professional. This delayed us on a couple of occasions. The freezing temperatures proposed different problems for us. Whilst it wasn't impossible for us to film, we were all required to wear very few layers to play our characters and therefore we were actually on occasions too cold to film. Wrapping up warm was just not an option as we were filming a 'night out' as typical teenagers. Therefore, our costumes had to reflect reality and in the real world people don't go on a night out with big coats and gloves on.
In the end we managed to shoot in a much more mild period of December and overcame the problem but it did make us a little nervous that we'd miss out deadline. Fortunately though we were able to use a few more hours editing to ensure the video was completed on time.
To counteract these problems I'd suggest that in future we'd need to consider how necessary it is to film externally on an evening, particularly during the winter. If we still felt it was appropriate we'd need to perhaps begin filming earlier in the autumn (to coincide with the academic year) and not even consider the digipak and website until after we had completed all filming. This would mean we would not be out in the middle of December attempting to film and would instead be creating our websites during that time. In hindsight this makes logical sense but at the time we were keen to begin all 3 tasks simultaneously to keep on top of things. One thing I think it is safe to say I have learnt is that you shouldn't take on too much too soon - pacing ourselves would have been a much more effective idea.
One thing that did make it easier to deal with the difficulties we faced was that we worked together very well as a group. We had a mutual understanding of what the Digitized product was and as a result we were all on the same wavelength when it came to how we filmed/edited. Teamwork is the single most important thing when working in a group because ultimately without each other we would not have been able to film a music video. We were all very friendly before undertaking this project but I think we're even closer now having experienced the highs and the lows of producing/directing/editing a piece of footage accessible to millions of people worldwide on YouTube! We adhered to the deadlines and our storyboards which made the whole experience feel like a great success. I enjoyed working with both Scott and Cathy and wouldn't hesitate to do so again in the future.
Thursday 20 December 2012
My Updated Digipak
I've refined my original digipak design to incorporate all 4 covers (2 interior and 2 exterior). I've revamped the amount of content and attempted to retain a similar theme and style on all 4 sides to make it a coherently constructed piece of work. As you will notice the colours and fonts used are also present on my website as I felt it was important to keep a consistent structure to all the products related to the music video. Simply, the colours reflect disco/techno lights and stand out against a dark background - much like on a night out.
Here is my final design:
Here is my final design:
Social Networking
Aside from the podcast I included on my website, another modern tool used to encourage interaction from fans is social networking. The majority of bands in 2012/2013 have a team of dedicated media experts who ensure their presence is known on sites such as Facebook and Twitter where millions of people actively post on a daily basis. To put it in to further perspective there are thought to be around 1 billion Facebook users registered in total today, whilst Twitter boasts around 100 million. That is a massive audience that can be targeted and allows any individual group to communicate with them.
I have therefore decided it would be beneficial to Digitized to follow suit and exploit the fact we can reach out to a wider audience that we may not have been able to communicate with otherwise. I created a public Facebook account and invited a few peers to 'like' the page and become involved with whatever we decide to share on there. Whilst we are unable to advertise any of our music on iTunes like other professional bands do we can still interact with our fans and point them in the direction of our music video. Of course, we don't have our own dedicated media/PR team to control our account so it is manned by ourselves. I prefer the fact we have the freedom to decide what gets published on there and it does create the impression that we are involved with everything that endorses the band. Hard-Fi, one of my musical inspirations, control their own Facebook account as they are a band that have enjoyed success predominantly in Britain, whereas global stars such as Rihanna don't necessarily control their account themselves. We are not worldwide music icons just yet so we are more similar to Hard-Fi in the sense we don't have the resources to employ a media team!
I've also created a Twitter account that will post almost identical information but obviously on a smaller scale because there is a precise word count on the tweets you can send. On there we rely on our followers to retweet our posts and spread the message to other users - thus hopefully encouraging them to follow us themselves. On the Digitized website the Twitter link is not real because at school we are prevented from accessing such sites, so I had to create a made up address for aesthetic purposes.
SoundCloud accounts are also popular among professional bands but I opted against opening an account on there because it is mainly a place to upload remixes and any other DJ-influenced music you've created. We don't have any tunes like that so we felt it wasn't worthwhile creating an account on there although I do recognise it's usefulness.
Wednesday 19 December 2012
Digitized Pogo Official Video
In case you missed the link to our video in my 'YouTube Channel' post (where it said that our upload of the video had been blocked by EMI), here is an updated link that should now work.
I searched around on YouTube and found that other people in the same position as myself were not experiencing copyright problems when uploading their videos. Therefore I've re-uploaded ours this evening on the following link:
Digitized - Pogo (Official Video) - YouTube
It should now work.
There is a specific page on my website (within the 'Pogo' section) where the video is also accessible but QuickTime (with which it was uploaded) is sometimes very slow to work. As a result I have not posted the link directly to that part of my website in this section because it is unreliable!
I searched around on YouTube and found that other people in the same position as myself were not experiencing copyright problems when uploading their videos. Therefore I've re-uploaded ours this evening on the following link:
Digitized - Pogo (Official Video) - YouTube
It should now work.
There is a specific page on my website (within the 'Pogo' section) where the video is also accessible but QuickTime (with which it was uploaded) is sometimes very slow to work. As a result I have not posted the link directly to that part of my website in this section because it is unreliable!
Digitized Website Link
Having uploaded a selection of screenshots earlier on of my completed Digitized website, I'm now able to present the site's link. I'm delighted to have finished it after a lot of hard work and the reaction I've received from it has been tremendous. I'd like to thank Dan Coyne who was prepared to be filmed giving his opinions on it earlier on today.
Digitized Official Website
Note: As you will see by clicking on the link, certain fonts don't match with the ones displayed in the screenshots article I posted recently. This is because the server that is hosting my website doesn't recognise the fonts I'd taken from the internet and as result they've modified them to a more basic style. So, the website is meant to look like the screenshot images and not how it appears when clicking on the link.
As an evaluative point, I'd have to seriously consider using internet fonts again in the future because of the problems that have arisen on this occasion. It is too late for me to re-publish the website now with alternative fonts to the ones I'd previously chosen so I'll have to persevere with what I've got. I'm disappointed but not too frustrated and as long as I learn from this and use my knowledge in the future I'll be happy.
Digitized Official Website
Note: As you will see by clicking on the link, certain fonts don't match with the ones displayed in the screenshots article I posted recently. This is because the server that is hosting my website doesn't recognise the fonts I'd taken from the internet and as result they've modified them to a more basic style. So, the website is meant to look like the screenshot images and not how it appears when clicking on the link.
As an evaluative point, I'd have to seriously consider using internet fonts again in the future because of the problems that have arisen on this occasion. It is too late for me to re-publish the website now with alternative fonts to the ones I'd previously chosen so I'll have to persevere with what I've got. I'm disappointed but not too frustrated and as long as I learn from this and use my knowledge in the future I'll be happy.
Digitized YouTube Channel + Video
We created our Digitized YouTube channel in order to gauge opinion of our target audience. Having considered David Gauntlett’s theory that audiences and producers ‘blur together’ in the 21st century, we felt it was important to show our band had exploited the technology and networking available to us in order to create our video and interact with people. As pioneers of the digital age, its easy to neglect the fact that technology is enhancing our music sharing experience beyond what was originally deemed possible, so we thought we’d demonstrate our recognition of this by using a YouTube channel to share videos.
 |
| Our YouTube channel for Digitized (with proof of video upload!) |
Half way through the editing process we uploaded a mini edit version of our video to show what we had done so far. We posted the video link on our individual FaceBook and Twitter sites to encourage people to take a look and leave feedback, which we received openly. We acknowledged that there would be a range of views on whether the video itself was coherent or looked professional, so we were prepared to garner criticism.
We had our own ideas of what needed to be improved before making it public online, but we felt it was just as important for our demographic to voice their opinion as it’s a video that reflects them and their way of life.
We were pleased that when feedback was first received a lot of it was positive. We were told it ‘had good camera shots to portray being drunk’, ‘effective locations’ and ‘good story-lines’ and that gave us confidence that we were heading in the right direction in terms of delivering a relatable video to our audience. We weren’t completely immune from constructive criticism though, which was good because this was the point of this process anyway, and a number of comments focussed on how it fit together alongside the song.
A few people felt that although the video showed a drunken night out, it didn’t necessarily tie in perfectly with the song itself. One particular comment explained ‘the video could have accompanied any number of different songs, it maybe needs to relate more to ‘Pogo”. When watching the video back through again afterwards, we could see where they were coming from and realised we needed to experiment with it to ensure that in future it does fit with the song. I proposed that we add shots of someone miming to certain words to link the audio and visuals together, something Scott and Cathy agreed would help. When we next went out to film other elements of the video that we hadn’t already put together, we went and re-filmed one part of the video so the shots included miming. We knew that just one sequence of miming wouldn’t improve the coherency of the video, so we found a location where another mime could be filmed with another character. By having at least two mimes it didn’t look like we panicked and at the last minute added one in, it looks deliberate and part of the video.
I still felt it was lacking in something and after consulting with Scott in particular, we decided we would try and implement some text at certain points of the video. We felt the stand out lyrics in the song are ‘yeah’, ‘wah-ohh’ – they are memorable words and really capture the spirit of a ‘drunken Friday night out’ – so we tried to put them in to text when they are sung over the video. We decided to use a font that I had used in my ‘Digitized’ website, as it maintained a coherency between the entire media package I was creating (music video, website, CD cover). We decided to use the text at two separate points in the video and added the lyrics ‘there’s something in the air’ before it, to emphasise our understanding of it’s effect.
Other than that a sound issue was brought to our attention, which was easily rectified as we just needed to cut all audio from our recordings – something we thought we’d already done. Aside from these particular highlighted improvements, nothing else major was needed, except to carry on the final part of the editing process in the same vain. We continued to do so and were finally in a position to upload our finished video. Barring any obvious deficiencies that our audience may inform us of, no further editing is required and it is available to access on our YouTube page.
[UPDATE (22/12/12): Unfortunately we have encountered problems in that EMI have blocked both videos from being accessed on 'copyright grounds', even though we wrote disclaimers in the video descriptions. They were available online for around a week before they were taken down. The links above are the web addresses for the videos but as you will discover they will take you to YouTube where it will say they have been blocked.]
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