Evaluation

Final Evaluation

Music Video

Final Music Video

This is our final music video for the track Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey.

To edit our music video, we used Adobe Premier Pro as I feel confident when using that to cut and link shots together along with audio. The main editing was cropping the shots to the right parts, especially the singing scenes as I found this very difficult to link to the correct words in the song, however after a few times of doing it, I found it became easier and that I had learnt a new skill. I also used the transitions on the program to link certain shots together, mainly through cross dissolve, however I didn't include many as I felt it began to stop looking like a music video of that genre as they rely on short cuts which change between locations etc. I added a fade out at the end to the audio and the image as I felt this was a better way to finish the music video rather than bluntly ending, and it worked well with the end of the track with a slow motion shot of her turning around. After we had edited it, we had to upload it to YouTube, however we experienced difficulty with the audio when doing this, and therefore had to take a different approach, and that is why we used vimeo to upload our music video, although I think it gives a clearer image than YouTube anyway.

When I was putting the shots into an order I felt worked best, I tried to include a link between the lyrics and visuals, and I decided the best place for this would be when the lyrics say 'I've got my red dress on tonight' as I had taken a beautiful shot of Georgina wearing a red dress outside of Wollaton Hall which I wanted to use slow motion on, and this was very effective in the video. I used the speed tool a lot during editing as it gave me the opportunity to make the video build up with the tempo of the track, and emphasised her dance performance at key moments. As well as using slow motion, I also sped up shots such as the couple walking up the stairs at Wollaton Hall, as I felt this would look better than a long shot of them walking slowly.

The finished product works well, as there is an interesting range of locations and costumes which works well with the narrative of the video and makes it easy to follow. For me, I felt that the slow motion shots of the leaps and dance moves work incredibly well as I wanted to alter these after looking at our draft video, and I am glad that I did it as it builds up the tempo with slow and fast shots now. We did further filming of the singing performance scenes in a different room against a blank wall, and chose a close up camera angle for these as it made them different from the previous singing shots, and I feel the combination of them together works really well and makes it more interesting, We altered a lot of the lighting throughout the video after I wasn't happy with the draft, and now I think you can see a clear contrast from the Summer scenes and the sad scenes, and the natural lighting looks brighter now.

These images show how I experimented with the different colours, lighting and contrast on images in the editing stages, until we got the result we wanted. This was on a train scene, however this was not the colour we opted for in the end.

I am particularly happy with the long shot near the beginning which shows the sun in the sky and pans across to a blurred image of the artist which slowly focuses, as this is a typical example of what Lana Del Rey includes in her videos. She always interprets a shot of the sky or weather at the start of videos which relate to it and uses many hand held pans which blur at first and begin to sharpen as it gives a personal feel to the video, representing a home video. I also like the dance shots as I think the shadows look professional and creative when she dances, and the lighting was professional stage lights so I am happy they give an impressive effect on camera as well as in person.


My personal improvements would be to check that all of the singing scenes are lip synced correctly, as some were a little off the beat after changing around shots on Adobe Premier Pro. I also would have included another actor into the video if I were to do it again, as I feel after a while it lacks the interest with it being the same person on camera all the time.

My Magazine Advert

Final Magazine Advertisement

I haven't changed a lot of my magazine advertisement as I was happy with the overall product from my draft, however I did make the text slightly smaller and the image larger. I did this because the image is a motif for this album as it is displayed on the front of the digipak, and the consumer will be attracted to the image more than the text in a magazine making it stand out more. I also made the release date all in one line as I felt before it looked a bit odd, and the date is in the past as I researched online for the exact release date of her 'Born To Die' album.

My Digipak

Final Digipak

This is my final digipak, as I changed elements of my first draft to improve the overall product. I decided to stick with the black and white colour scheme as this looks effective and keeps in tone with the songs on the album, however I added red to the colour scheme as this gave the text more boldness which allowed the important information to stand out to the consumer. The two gaps at the top of the digipak are due to the construction as I used a template for dimensions of the digipak and it left these two gaps free as when you construct the album they go beneath the other two spines. I also took new photography for some of the pages as I felt some of my previous ones were not as clear as I wanted them to be.

I thought the three images blended together worked well and therefore decided to keep this image on the front cover, however I blended it more with the blur tool so that it gave a more eerie effect when on top of the background. The image to the left involved her arm near her face as her hand is in her hair, although I have been informed this is not obvious, so if I were to improve this page, I would remove that small section of the image. The text on the front cover has been changed to the red font, as this combination of colours works well, particularly on the cover as the red lipstick matches it. I feel this makes it stand out more and the information is more memorable. I also changed the background to an image I took on location in Toton Park, as I feel that it is more subtle and therefore doesn't distract from the artist's image.

I loved this photograph on the back page and therefore left it the same, although I altered the sizing of the track list due to it covering the majority of the image, and I like it better now as I feel it is more like existing digipaks I have researched and analysed. I also added a credit block, as all CD's have these on the back including information such as record companies so that the consumer can be fully aware of it. 

On my draft digipak, I disliked how I approached this page, however after redesigning it, I managed to create something unique which looks rather effective. Not many discs include a whole photograph of the artist and therefore I did mine like this to be original and to stand out from the rest. I also think it would be more personal to the consumer rather than a blank disc with writing on.

I was inspired by Lana Del Rey's cheekier side which I have seen in the music videos such as 'Video Games' where she winks to the camera, and other media texts of hers I have studied, and as we interpreted a shot in our music video where Georgina runs her tongue across her teeth, I wanted to continue this side of the artist on the digipak. I took two different images, one of her eyes which are slightly squinted to give the impression of a sexualised stare, and another photograph of her licking her lips. I then positioned these so it looked like one continuous photograph with text in the middle joining them together. I did this instead of taking one photograph as I felt it was more creative and alternative suiting the genre. The text was inspired by my previous research on Example and DJ Wire's digipak where they did a page with thank you messages on them, and I felt this was different and a good way of connecting the artist with the audience, so therefore I included it on this page.

Previously on my digipak draft, I had the same lyrics, but on a different photograph, and this photograph was on it's own without any text. As I preferred this photograph, but felt it needed more text, I combined the two to create this lyric page. I think it works a lot better with the lyrics along with this photograph as there is a more distinct background to the page as well.

I decided to take new photographs against a different background, and found a brick wall as I feel these are often used in the background of more urban and alternative acts. I just wanted a simple photograph which was effective on it's own and didn't require any text. I used this as I feel her facial expression really connects with the audience and you can understand the tone of the album through her face.

Draft Magazine Advert

Draft Magazine Advert

I want to keep my magazine advertisement simple as from my research of existing magazines in this genre, I can see that they rely on a clear image or artwork, with a bold title, artist's name and release date, with record label logos and a possible website. I do not feel any other information is necessary if this poster would be printed in the same magazines as the ones I analysed. I used the same photograph blend as I created and used for my digipak front cover. I did this as I feel it will be a good advertisement technique as it creates synergy between the two media texts, and allows the audience to become familiar with the image, perhaps becoming a motif for this particular album. The only thing I want to improve is the sizing of the text as I feel that the release date looks too big and bold on the advert.