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.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)