Final website

Final website link - https://hollyjconnell.wixsite.com/nova

We wanted Nova's website to link well with her personality, for example, every page has bright colours and images. 

This the home page, we added a simple navigation bar at the top of the page which allows users to enter any page they wish.  On this page there is a snippet of the Nova music video playing in the background.

This is the Bio page which includes lots of interesting information about Nova for fans to get to know her better.

Our Tour page includes all the places and times that Nova will be performing at.  Each location has a seperate link where fans can buy Nova concert tickets.

The Video page allows fans to click on the video image and can watch the full music video on the website throught Youtube.

On this page fans can listen to Nova's song Nobody Better and buy it on the website.

The Shop page has all the merchandise currently available to the public, the merchandise includes t-shirts, phone cases, a backpack, a poster and a cap.














The Gallery part on the website has a variety of pictures of just Nova, giving fans a behind the scenes pictures of Nova during the music video.  On each image users can drag it around the page, minimise and enlarge.  At the bottom, fans are able to watch Nova interview and her magazine cover.

The Connect page allows the user to enter any comments, this will allow the fans and Nova to have a personal connection.

Final digipak

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 4

Magazine

This is the magazine cover we created for Paper Magazine, a high profile, American magazine with lots of artistic recognition. It has loyal followers from all over the world and is considered a big opportunity to be featured in a cover of theirs. This cover was created using Microsoft Word and Photoshop in order for it to look legitimate and professional, similar to the original editions.

Prelim evaluation

 1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?  

In my group there was me, Phoebe, Holly and Jamie. Once we had been told the task, we as a group took a couple of lessons to look at different styles of music videos. We each put forward our ideas for what style of music and video we felt would work well. We eventually choose the song Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepson. I felt comfortable to play a main role in the music video therefore I took on the role of Carly Rae Jepson. Within the group we worked well together everyone was assigned a role and they fulfilled this role. Jamie was in charge of editing and me, Holly and Phoebe was in charge of keeping up to date with blog posts and the filming and ensuring we had the right props, costumes, setting, etc. Everything ran smoothly and everything was kept up to date, including the production diary. As a group we planned when we was all free and where and when we was going to film so we could stay on track for the task.

2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? 

To plan our sequence we used a storyboard, designed this on Emaze I was in charge of taking the screen shots of every different shot up until 30 seconds We then put these in order and wrote down what type of shot was used. We then used this to create our video. We used this method because it showed us clearly what shots we needed to shoot and how long each shot lasted. We also used a shooting schedule. The shooting schedule helped us keep on track with the organisation of filming and helped us get the right settings. 

 3) What theories could you apply to the video you chose? 

Our music video could apply to Carol Vernallis's theory which states there is 4 key concepts creating a music video which is Editing, Narrative, Camera and Diegisis. Our music video for Call Me Maybe heavily relies non the concept of Narrative, which Vernallis's suggests the video is a visual response which reflects the lyrics and overall purpose of the song. The visuals of our song often portray the lyrics which therefore links Carol Vernallis Theory to our music video. 

 4) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?  

For filming we used an iPhone. We used this because it was a really high definition which is what we wanted for our video. The iPhone was also portable which was really good for when we had to go to different sites to film. For the editing, we used Premier. We used this because it is quite simple to use but produces a high quality finish. Which allowed us to blur out the background and match the editing effects used in the actual video. 

 5) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

The factors that had to be taken into account were: locations, props, camera, actors and time. In the 1st minute of the video there are 3 main locations - the house, the garden and the garage. We had to travel to a couple places to film. We had to take 2 cars to get all the equipment there. We had to set up the locations for our video once we got there. We thought that the locations would be difficult to sort out but they were not. Everyone lived fairly close by to the school so there weren't any long journeys and the setting up was fairly simple. For the props we had to have a drum kit, keyboard, guitars and a microphone. We had to transport all of these from the school to the locations and then set them all up and in the right places. With help from multiple people this went fairly straight forward. We had a 2 week deadline that we had to stick to. We met this deadline and sent in the prelim.

 6) How successful was your music video copy? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production? 

Overall the music video copy went really well. The main thing that worked well was the actors involved in the video. All the actors were dedicated and gave up time to ensure the video was shot and was finished to a high standard. The main actress was me as I looked the most like Carly Rae Jepson, which worked really well in the final finish. As a group we put a lot of effort into the camera work to ensue that we matched the scenes ad cuts as best as we could. If we were to do it again we would probably choose a video that needed less people. In the video there was a whole band and a singer and we found it difficult to get enough actors and a camera man for the shooting of the video. These particular shots were also difficult to match as it was hard to get only certain people in the shots. The main feedback we got from the video was that it was really good. They said the camera work and actors matched the original music video really well. The only thing we could improve on was the colour correcting. The original music video was a light, warm colours. We attempted to recreate this but it proved to be quite difficult so the colours don't match exactly. Especially as it rained the day we decided to film outside which made it almost impossible to look like the summers day in the actual music video.

7) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your music video, do you think

In the future this task will help to prepare me for my final music video as I am now aware of how much planning and time must be dedicated to the actual music video. From the task I have learnt that a shooting schedule and the plan of the music video is essential.

8) How does it compare with filming an opening to a film?  

The music video filming was very difficult compared to the film opening as I found there were more cuts and more editing involved such as matching up the lip sinking which proved to be hard. There was also more angles used and quicker shots so it was important to get these right in order to look in time and match the original music video.

9) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a group member?  

As I played the main role in the music video I felt that my strengths was being confident and taking on the character of the artist and portraying her song which I felt went really well, especially as this was my first time taking on an acting role. I was also good at keeping organised and up to date with how our progress was going and what we had to do next. However my weakness as a group member was the editing of the video, I am not very confident with the programme so left most of the editing to Jamie who was very skilled at editing, I felt like this was the right thing to do as we all played to our strengths and each had a role to play. Next time I would involve myself in the editing.

10) Looking at the other group's videos which do you think were most successful and why? 

I think we was a very successful group, but the group that done the song Kathleen were also very successful the camera work was almost identical to the actual video and the editing was amazing especially as it had some hard effects that they needed to recreate.

Prop inspiration

The props that we used in our music video were glow sticks, balloons, dogs, tea and a red Mini car.  Here is some examples of music videos which inspired us to use these props.  

Miss me - Andy Grammer 

This music video inspired us to use glow sticks

 

99 Luftballons - Nena 

This music video inspired us to use light up balloons

What Went Down - Foals 

 This music video inspired us to include Nova's dogs.

Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift 

This music video inspired us to have Nova have a cup of tea, in order to add some of Nova's personality into this shot we decided to include a lip stick stain on the cup, which the same shade Nova is seen wearing in the rest of the video.

Good Feeling - Flo Rida 

This shot of Flo Rida in the red Mini encouraged us to use the Mini that Nova owns in real life.  We decided that this not only allows viewers to see Nova's persona but also tells them a little bit about her that her fans might already know. 

Evidence of filming photos and footage and photoshoot

This is an evaluation of our footage and photographs taken from our first day of shooting. Overall we felt that the first day of filming went well, we managed to get quite a lot done considering we had only a limited amount of time. We spent time planning the outfits and props used for each individual scene of shooting so we were prepared and knew what we was doing therefore we could be organised an efficient when it came to filming.

Here are some photographs taken from filming...

            

These photographs were taken from the first location of the music video which was down a housing street and against a brick wall. We took photographs using the Camera and an iPhone 7 camera as we could use depth effect to create a slightly blurred out background, focusing all the attention on the artist. These were the most successful photographs as they were clear in quality and focused on the artist. They could possibly be used for an album cover or as profile pictures for social media sites aswell as featuring on the official website for our artist. 

Here are some of our unsuccessful photographs from our first shoot...

This photo was unsuccessful as the quality is not as clear, she is also 
quite far back which means she is over powered by the scenery which looses all attention and focus on her. The dogs were also facing the wrong way which it made it difficult to capture the 'perfect' photograph. This picture was just practise to see the positioning of where the artist was standing and to see what looked good. Therefore this photo will not be used but it was a good example oh how to improve and allowed us to see what worked and what didn't.










These were the next set of photographs taken. Charlotte had changed her outfit and we changed location to film in her conservatory. Here are some of the successful photographs...

We felt these photographs were successful as they were extremely clear and gave all focus on the artist as the scenery is quite simple and plain. The close up head shots also show the makeup we used to create that look. We felt these pictures made charlotte stand out from the background as she is seen wearing contrasting patterns which helps to create the star image. Again these images could be used to promote our artist either by the official website or social media sites.

The next set of photos taken from our first day of filming where taken in the location of Charlottes bathroom, where she is seen singing in the bath with bubbles and coloured neon lights, balloons and glow sticks...

We found this shoot the most difficult, as we had no natural or artificial lighting. This meant it was hard to make the camera focus and the quality looked quite grainy. We used a flash to help capture the dark shots. To create the 'pink' background we held  an iPhone torch against coloured glow sticks this enabled the colour to shine through into the background. This helped to create a colourful neon setting which linked well to our artists music.

                                                                                






















This photo shows the camera we used to capture some of these photographs, we also used an iPhone camera.













Here are some of our unsuccessful photographs...

This picture shows the difficulties we had with the lighting and quality of the photos. In this picture charlotte appears out of focus and slightly blurred. Compared to our first shoot these pictures are significantly lower in quality, this is mainly due to the lack of natural lighting.

Social media advertising

As a way of creating a fan base we have made Nova two social media accounts. One is Instagram this allows us to post pictures of Nova where her fans can like and comment. Our Instagram will be used to post pictures of what Nova is up too, aswell as pictures from the music video that we will be releasing. We will also post short videos of the music video to create a 'hype' in order to get fans excited for the music video release. Another account we have created is on Twitter. Twitter is a large social media platform which allows our Artist to write 'tweets' these tweets are usually about what Nova is up to such as recording in the studio. This allows our followers to feel engaged with our artist as they know what she is up too. We have also posted pictures and short videos. We plan to also use twitter to interact with our fans as we follow back fans and answer questions that they have tweeted us. Before we release the music video we plan on using both social media accounts to do a countdown this means we will post pictures of the number of days left till the video is released as well as short videos as sneak peaks. This will add to the excitement and help to increase our fan base. 

Reasons for choosing font

To help build up Nova's bold brand image, we decided that it is very important to have a specific font, used for the logo and other things such as the alum cover, website and digipack, which fans will be able to recognise on it own, without even seeing it relating to a photo of Nova. We pondered on a few different fonts that were either in cursive or bold text, but we all decided that the font, 'Desdemona' suited our brand image best. This is because it is bold and recognisable to fans, yet also looks fun and slightly girly like Nova herself. Paired with a baby lilac colour, it creates the perfect logo for Nova's brand image.

Issues we Overcame Whilst Filming

During filming, surprisingly most of it went smoothly and without many problems, but there were a few that we encountered which we had to either improve then and there, or later on when editing or re-filming. Such as:

• Lighting in the bathroom: In the bathroom shots, the lighting is dark and the only source of light are the glow sticks, fairly lights and the neon balloons. This however sometimes looked grainy which made the quality of the video look poor and unprofessional. To fix this, while filming we looked over our footage and used our phone torch lights behind the glowsticks to create a soft light on Nova's face, which made the video look a much better quality.

• Forgetting words: Sometimes, when filming, Charlotte would forget the song lyrics when lip synching for the video which would sometimes look strange. To fix this, because there was no sound in the clip (as the music was going to be layered over the top), one of the other members of the group would shout the song lyrics before it was time to mime them. This worked very successfully as it meant that the video looked more realistic and professional.

• 360 degree shot: When filming on the road with the wheely chair and the dogs, we found that as Holly was filming the 360 shot, the bumpy road meant that the shot looked wobbly and sometimes out of focus. We tried holding the camera more steady but it did not do much to improve the shot, so when editing, Anneka managed to find a 'stabiliser' effect to add to the shot to make it appear a lot smoother.

Music Video Representations

Our video plainly represents Nova as being a confident, not sexualised woman who is independent in herself.

Whilst other music videos represent women as having to dress revealingly in order to gain confidence, our music video represents women's confidence as exuding from being expressive in themselves. This representation of females is shown throughout the music video. This is shown by Nova always being covered up with clothes, even in the bathtub shots, Nova is wearing a T shirt, making her not sexualised.

Nova is a representation of a young adult/ teenage female. Her representation is to be confident and true to your self. This is expressed through Nova's personality within the video. Nova is never shy, her actions and movements are always large and unapologetic. She makes eye contact with the camera throughout which shows the confidence which she has. 

Group Reflection

As a group we worked extremely well together. From the start we divided the tasks up between us and played on eachother a strengths in order to achieve the highest grades, for example Anneka had good editing experience and therefore she had the task to edit our video.
At the start of each lesson we would set out between us what we wanted to accomplish and what task we would each individually be working on, this really helped to create progress.

Creation of logo

For the Logo, we wanted to create something simple and bold which reflect the style of our artist, Nova. We stuck with the same font all throughout our album covers, merchandise and our digipak to create synergy and a recognisable label for our audience to see. We stuck with a light purple/pink colour which relates to the colours in the music video and album cover, and Nova is known for her purple looks inspired by 80s disco music. The colour also represents the style of music 'Wonky Funk' very well because it is seen as a fun colour which is also often associated with low lighting and party scenes.

First draft of digipak

This is the first draft we have created for our digipak. I aimed to use the colour purple throughout  while incorporating Nova's different looks used throughout the video. On the bottom right is the official album cover, on the bottom middle is the back of the album, showing all of the tracks, the left bottom and top are photos of Nova from the 'Nobody Better' music video. The top middle is a picture of the CD inside and on the top right is another photo of Nova in her music video. I am happy with digipak draft as it is interesting to look at and it symbolises the music video well. To improve this however, I am going to work on making it all more cohesive so it looks like one body of work and flows nicely.                                                  

Group reflection

Evidence of work

This shows evidence of us working together on the blog. On the blog we conducted the planning, research, feedback and construction for our coursework.