Ancillary Text

As well as our main product (Love/Paranoia Music Video) Ellie and I have been tasked with the the addition of an Ancillary Text which will be combined with our main product to create our overall final outcome. Our ancillary text involves the design and construction of digipak-style packaging for our chosen song that features in our music video. A digipak is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. Digipak typically consist of a book style card and plastic binding. Digipaks were first created by MeadWestvaco, and their product, called Digi-Pak, is trademarked. However, the format became more popular and began to be used by more manufacturers because of its developing populatiry in its first years of use the digipak in current times is very common and still very popular. 

The design of a typical digipak will consist of some aspect of what the artist represents and what the predominate genre is. The digipak will most likely embody and theme and a message about the artist image. An example of this would be Tame Impala's album art never showing a member of the band but always being clearly represented through psychedelic art and symbolism. This links to emphasising the bands brand image which in turn increases the popularity of the band. The digipak also exemplifies the artistic and creative approach the artist is taking throughout the music. For example, if there’s some futuristic idealism conveyed in the lyrics or the visuals in the music video then the front cover wouldn’t be very contemporary but more obscure and abstract. This could also be conveyed through the use of simplistic imagery, which through research I have conducted is often showed on the covers of classical music CD's which is in keeping with the genre. All aspects of the digipak, brand image and music video are all interwoven together. From conducting research into the digipak I have been made aware of how our music video being so closely linked and represented through means of psychedelic expression (the use of ink in water, paint to drip over body parts and neon face paint) and how the design of the digipak will have to link back to this form of expression quite closely to in turn link back to the music video. From further research I conducted I have also been made aware that the design and contraction of a digipak can benefit the artist and their music as its aims to work as a promotional aspect of the music industry which helps bring awareness to the artist thus selling the artist and encouraging consumers to buy and listen to their music. You could argue that buying a CD or any form of hardcopy music including the digipak establishes your loyalty to your artist. As through globalisation almost all music products are purchased online or even more likely today to be illegally downloaded or streamed of the internet. Consumers may be swayed from taking this course of action if they are fans of the band or artist and see that the digipak they are selling is unique and unattainable through online streaming. 

Bloopers

As Ellie and I progressed through the filming and editing of our music video we decided to create a blooper real. As Ellie and I filmed we took the outtakes from what we shot on a filming session and gradually added it to the blooper real. We created this in hopes of showing a behind the scenes look at the work, time and dedication Ellie and I have put into this music video and how happy we are with the level of dedication the actors we worked with also put into their roles in our video. The video contains evidence for the first scene we shot with Lizzie and Sam that was cut from the final music video, the blooper real shows some of the scenes that would have been included in the video occampanied with our orginal song choice of Tame Imala's 'Let It Happen'. The video also shows how Ellie and I practise the use of the green screen and editing green screan shots, even though no green screen shots were included in the second and final video, the blooper real shows Ellie and I aiming to use a rnage of filming and editing skills in our video. The final half of the blooper real shows the outtakes from our final video and some props and angles that did not make it to the final cut of the video. 

Love/Paranoia A2 Music Video

Editing

My editing experience this year has been demanding. I have spent the majority of my time editing our video together and am determined to have the highest quality outcome of every single shot clearly shown in the final outcome. My overall aim is for every shot to be developed and made better through my editing intense and precise process. My goal is for anyone watching the music video on YouTube to be able to pause the video on any given shot at any time and to be impressed with the aesthetics and content of the video. The editing process for the shots with staring Lizzie and Sam was very intense, a lot of precise match on match editing had to be done. We also filmed on two different cameras which meant I had to scan through both memory cards to fill in gaps in the filming and choose the best shots to add to the final cut of the video. Editing the shots of Seb with neon face paint was a new and challenging experience as adjusting the levels to ensure the background stayed as pitch black as possible in hopes of bringing out the brightness of the face paint proved difficult as parts of Seb's face would turn darker and blend in with the background. The outcome of the intense editing the shots underwent paid off however as the neon face paint worked so well with the adjustments I made to the colour levels and orange tones in the shots. One of the hardest things to edit in the video was the overlaying shots of Luke and Ellie, to give a trippy and confusing effect on some of the shots we achieved whilst filming in Rochester (taking inspiration from similar shots in Tame Impala music videos) to add to this we had planned out a very intricate shot before we left for filming and it relied strongly on my editing once it was uploaded, using the best shots off of the memory card and both simple and advanced editing software at my disposal, I was able to achieve the outcome that Ellie and I desired when we set out for filming.

Filming with Micky

Ellie and I cast Micky to act with a set of props rather than just one, the yellow smoke grenades and powder paint. We decided on this as we felt that the video already features a range of actors and to include more may be a step to far (even with our chosen genre often using many actors to confuse the plot of the video). We began filming at around 3:30pm, we therefore had to take into account that during winter the lighting we were working with at 3:30pm would dramatically change just half an our into filming. Because of this we decided to film with the powder paint first. Whilst setting up our filming location, an hour before Micky was due to arrive, Ellie and I found that the large white backing sheet we had intended to use as the background of our set was not the best backdrop to use. We found that the backdrop was creased and this showed on the camera. Not only this but the backdrop was extremely difficult to secure to the wall and would continuously fall down after staying secure for a few minutes. However, Ellie and I had luckily allowed an hour for us to set up the set before Micky arrived and so we searched for other suitable backdrops. We decided on a brick wall backdrop, not only was this a secure and aesthetically pleasing background, but through the masses of research I have conducted into music videos, various bands and artists use back walls as backdrops to certain shots as it gives a rustic and grungy effect.

As soon as Micky arrived he changed into his costume of white trousers and a white t-shirt, I provided this costume as it would most likely get ruined throughout the process of filming with powder paint. We decided on an all white costume as it would allow the props to stand out and when it came to editing the colours of the various props could be manipulated and the white costume would keep the process simple and mainly focus on the brightly coloured powder paint and smoke. Ellie and I aimed to use Micky covered in powder paint as na opportunity to add more lip syncing into our video, I had made some notes prior to filing about where in the video Micky lip syncing would work best. We had asked Micky almost a month previously to learn the words to our chosen song and so he came prepared the the filming session. When it came to filming we used a tripod at the beginning of the filming session and as the session progressed we unmounted the camera in hopes of gaining a variety of shots closer to Micky and the thrown powder paint. We made sure to continuously check the camera quality and ensured that whilst filing the camera remained in focus. When moving onto the smoke grenade shots, I used the notes that I had made prior to filming to ensure that we used the research I had collected on the prop. I made notes on how to successfully and effectively use the grenade as I had never used this prop before and I had only purchased three and did not want to waste them. After purchasing the prop I researched how long the smoke lasts for once the chain has been pulled, 90 seconds of smoke would follow this, I informed Micky of how long he would have with the smoke and directed him on some of the actions and movements he should make with the prop (thinking of how I could edit the movements when it came to that stage). We used a large field with tall oak trees coating its outskirts to film Micky with the yellow smoke, the lighting of the shots although planned differently worked to our advantage as it allowed the smoke and Micky, dressed in all white to stand out against the dark trees and grass.

Overall, I believe this filming session with Micky to be one of our best outcomes. I think this is not only down to the unique and effective props that we have chosen, but our casting. Micky took direction very well and worked with us throughout filming. He also learnt the words to the whole of our song and learnt this in his own time and arrived on set prepared to start filming right away. I now look forward to editing the shots we have gained together and integrating in into our music video. 

Filming of ink shots

Ink in water:

Taking inspiration from the first three shots used in Tame Impala's "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards", using a large fish tank, a needle purchased on amazon, a variety of coloured oil paint and ink we filmed a variety of shots showing the ink move through the water. We also used paint on a large piece of white card, we then showed this paint dripping down the card. These shots when edited could later be made to look stunning and bright in colour in keeping with the psychedelic genre, with specific editing software the shots could also be flipped and reversed. Before we filmed the shots with the ink I researched on YouTube how to get the best quality shots when filming with ink in water. Through watching 'Hypnotic Ink Physics in 4K Slow Motion - The Slow Mo Guys' through the process of watching this video and other forms of research, I found that by mixing coloured ink with cream allows the ink to keep its shape as it moves through the water allowing time for us to ensure the camera was focused and that the shots we left the shoot with were accurate. To add to this through watching this video I was given the idea to use a needle to inject the ink into the water as when using a pep-pet the ink would disperse into the water to quickly and the tank would have to be emptied and refilled with clean water over and over again. 

Model hands and paint:
Taking inspiration from Tame Impala's 'The Less I Know The Better' music video. At one point the boy in the video runs into a bathroom and vomits into a toilet. The liquid comes out blood red, and the next scene we’re transported into is a black abyss. The red liquid falls onto an invisible shape of a woman, colours drizzle and swirl to reveal her entire form. This is done with some impressive 3D animation which paves the way for the 2D collage of images that take over toward the end of the video. The transition into this animation is a welcome one in which images from the video collide to into a sketchy brightly coloured sequence of images. Taking inspiration from these shots we used mannequin arms against a white background (we tried using a black background but it was too reflective and the camera could be seen in the shot) using the paint I purchased we poured the paint over the objects in a style similar to that of 'The Less I Know The Better' music video. However, we found the paint was too thick and so we washed off the objects and filmed the shots again expect this time learning from our mistakes we used a jug to mix the coloured paint and some water together. We then used an empty bottle of paint and filled it with the watery paint. When we then filmed the mannequin shots again the paint looked far more aesthetically pleasing and stuck to the contours of the mannequins hands and arm smoothly. 

Filming with Seb

As planned we used the neon face paint I purchased to film with Seb. The filming location we used that worked almost perfectly was our school dark room, which is normally used for developing. As Seb is not part of our schools sixth form Ellie and I had to get him a visitors pass so he would be allowed to film on the school premise. We had set the dark room up before he had arrived and so wasted no time in getting to work filming. I brought both makeup brushed and paint brushes to the filming session. The large brushes Ellie and I used to create large strokes on Seb's cheeks and neck. The smaller brushes we then used to make smaller details, creating shapes and patterns down Seb's nose and around his lips and eyes. We used a small fan brush coated in yellow neon face paint to coat Seb's eyelashes this gave a really interesting effect when filmed as Seb blinked, something that is normally overlooked, neon face paint highlighted this and brings it to the forefront of the viewers attention. To make sure that the face paint was looking as good as it did while creating we made sure to keep turning the lights off and using the black light torch to check on the face paint as we built it up. We finally used a mixture of white and blue neon face paint to paint Seb's lips. In preparation we had asked Seb to learn the words to our chosen song. Learning from our successes and failures we asked Seb to lip sync as much as possible and filmed much more than we needed, this then ensured that we had shots to fall back on if when it came to editing some of the shots weren't what we were looking for. One of the hardest things to overcome on this particular filming session was that due to the lack of lighting it was extremely difficult to keep the camera in focus at all times. Especially when we decided to give some shots a unique edge by moving the blacklight torch about Seb's face. The camera for these shots needed to be constantly adjusted and put back into focus. Overall, I am very pleased with the outstanding effort made by Seb who took direction and even came up with ideas himself that helped Ellie and I. I am also pleased to say that I believe the outcome of this filming session to be positive. The neon face paint shows a unique take on ordinary close lip-syncing. This is not something you see in many music videos, but it works so well with our chosen genre and I look forward to adjusting the levels when editing to show the full effect of the neon face paint and the mood it will set in our final outcome.