Note to the examiner.

Dear Examiner,

Over the A2 course I have created a Music Video, Magazine Poster and Digitpak for a song from Kanye Wests 2013 album 'Yeezus'.

Please navigate from the bottom of the blog upwards to see my progression through the research, planning, production and evaluation of my project.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog and viewing the content on there as I did creating it all.

Many thanks,

Charlie Whitfield, A2 Media Student

Evaluation Question 4.

Evaluation Question 3.

Evaluation Question 2.

Evaluation Question 1.

Director Commentary.

I decided to create a directors commentary video to express the true meaning and ideas behind the video for the viewers.

MUSIC VIDEO - BLOOD ON THE LEAVES - KANYE WEST

RUSHES OF FILMING

Here are some rushes from my filming from all the locations, England, New York and South Africa.

Richmond Park Morning Time Lapse.

This is a time lapse I took on my iPhone 6 very early in the morning before my filming in Richmond park, it shows the route I took to park and then set up filming, a short walk away from the car.

Isolation of the colour red.

Some feedback I received was to isolate the colour of the mask in my music video, so that it is red and the rest is saturated. I practised on my friends red school bag and here are the results. I will soon post a tutorial video but for now here is a step by step process.

Isolating a colour on Final Cut Pro.

1) select section with item.

2) open effects

3) then select colour 

4) correction 1

5) add colour mask

6) go to image

7) hold shift and click so you get arrow 

8) then press again

9) show correction

10) outside mask

11) ensure saturation

12) drop the saturation

13) go back to selector and hold shift and select more areas.

Location of filming - Times Square, New York City.

For some of my music video I filmed in New York City, I wanted to add variation to the filming locations so I took my camera and equipment to any place I visited. When in Time Square, a famous location in the city, I saw this huge neon American flag placed on the wall of the Police office. I returned at night, so that the neon would be more visible and clear and filmed a few angles and pans of the flag. 

After filming the content I applied a large amount of after affects in Final Cut Pro X to add large volumes of energy into the piece. I used colidascope, mirror, prism, cross and many other effects which Final Cut Pro X offers to improve my video and add more movement to match the fast beat of the song ‘Blood on the Leaves’ by Kanye West.

The location is recognisable to locals and therefore would reach to a wider audience as they would recognise the area and feel as if they have been communicated with. By filming in multiple locations I am reaching a wider audience as I am both screening peoples home towns and making connections overseas with people who are in a similar area of work, who might potentially share my content.

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Isolation of the red mask.

From learning the process I isolated the red mask on my music video, however I am not completely satisfied with the aesthetics, so I have made the decision to not isolate the colour red of the mask in the music video.

Organising my Blog.

During my project I have tried to be as organised as possible, so what I've done to be organised is colour code my blog posts into different sections.

Pink - Ancillary Tasks

Blue - Pre Production

Orange - Filming Planning

Green - Research

Location of Filming - Wimbledon Common.

This is an image from my notebook, which I use to plan any film shoots, which I take out with me when on the shoot.

I include a map and an explanation of the area and what the landscape includes, such at what time of trees or ground it has. I find this incredibly useful when out on a shoot or when filming.

I also take photos of the location when there.

I am very happy with the location of Wimbledon Common.

Magazine Poster Advertisement Ancillary Task Final.

Audience feedback questionnaire from music video screening:.

Filming - Wimbledon Common.

This post shows some of the behind the scenes of my filming in Wimbledon Common. This was my final day of filming, and there was a lot to be done on the day. I needed to have at the end a variety of shots, including wide angle, panning, high angle and more variety of visuals to add more creativity to my music video, which was already in the post production stage.

This is me on the day of filming, with tripod and camera preparing for shooting.

 This is me in a tree in Wimbledon Common. I climbed a tree to gain access to a high angle shot, giving the character a sense of vulnerability, as if being chased.

Below is a short clip of me directing Alberto, showing him what movement I want him to do when being filmed.

Overall it was a very successful day of filming, this is because I was able to shoot everything I needed.

DIGIPAK ANCILLARY TASK FINAL COPY.

Software used in production.

Software used for A2 media task. from charlie whitfield on Vimeo.

Different ways of showing content.

Kanye uses a number of different techniques to promote and show his music videos. This is his most recent video for the song 'All Day', filmed and directed by Steve McQueen. It was premiered in Paris in march 2015.

He often favours towards projections, because of the number of people reached it makes it and affective way of promoting content. It if cheaper and can be set up anywhere, even if the surface is uneven and dark.

In 2013 Kanye introduced his '7 screen experience' at Cannes film festival, which created a fully immersive experience including 7 screens in front, to right and left on the floor and on the ceiling, forcing visuals around the audience.

This was an incredibly creative and successful way of viewing content, which was well accepted by audiences and directors, putting his name on the map for improving viewing experiences.

Above is a photograph taken from inside the 7 screen experience.

The importance of colour.

RED

Red is a very emotionally and intense colour. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate and raises blood pressure. it has a very high visibility, it is why stop signs, stop lights and fire equipments are usually painted red.

Final three covers.

I have taken the final cover from my previous post to collate my three final choices to be used as my final cover.

This one only includes the 'Parental Advisory' logo, which makes the listeners aware of the explicit lyrics.

This one only includes the 'Yeezus ' logo, which makes the audience aware of what the album name is, this graphical element gives away an electric feel to the album, which suggests the nature of the album, and the fast beats.

This one includes the 'Yeezus ' logo, which makes the audience aware of what the album name is, this graphical element gives away an electric feel to the album, which suggests the nature of the album, and the fast beats. And it also includes the 'Parental Advisory' logo, which makes the listeners aware of the explicit lyrics.

Ancillary task: Album cover for 'Yeezus'.

Using the Adobe Package, including Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, I finalised my digipak ancillary task for the Kanye West album Yeezus, which was released in June 2013.

After selecting my image I placed it in Adobe Photoshop, using the paintbrush tool (white colour) I removed the eyes of the model. After this stage I used the 'Burn tool' to add the glow affect around the mask eye piece.

After this stage I needed to turn the image into a album cover. I moved the file to Adobe Illustrator so that I could add Text and other requirements to the cover, for example the Parental Advisory symbol.

 

I played around with a number of title positions, working with an 'Arial Bold' typeface, with the titles 'KANYE WEST' and 'YEEZUS'.

This one is a basic 'YEEZUS' title.

This one shows the introduction of the parental guidance logo and also the name of the artist 'KANYE WEST'.

Then I worked on arrangement and with placing the artist name 'KANYE WEST' over the album name 'YEEZUS'.

Then I decided that I didn't want titles cluttering the cover, and also that the mask was too bright and not fitting the conventions.

This is my final album cover for the album 'YEEZUS' by Rapper 'KANYE WEST'.

Digipak artwork Shoot 2.

I am planning to add artwork to the album as a use for inside of the ‘digipak’ and also fora miniature booklet, containing lyrics and credits of the album.

The location of the shoot is Wimbledon Common in London. I have chosen this location because it provides a denser woodland, in contrast to the more sparse plains found in Richmond park, a more open place. 

Im am shooting in both black and white and coloured film to capture the grain in the image.

The woodland is a strong contrast to the modern day culture, which is technologically packed and dark. The trees and environment of the woodland offer a much calmer, muted and neutral setting, which is what I am aiming to capture in the shoot.

Album Promotional Posters Research.

When looking through hundreds of promotional album/song posters, the ones which really caught my attention were the ones created with a minimalist style in mind. From my graphic design experience, I am well associated with the work of Olly Moss, Saul Bass and of course Noma Bar. 

Their ability to take something as complicated and as detailed as a film and to reflect that with as little as one object or graphic element impresses me, so I decided to look at this style of work but targeted at promoting Rap/Hip Hop songs/albums.

Blood on the Leaves Music Video Synopsis.

The video starts off in a forest/woodland setting, with a ‘Point Of View’ style of filming, Panning from side to side, as if the character is lost. He is observing the trees, surrounded by the graves of hundreds of lynched African American slaves. 

The music begins and the audience are introduced to a character, representing a ‘modern day slave’. He is under threat of being a slave to fashion, technology other materialistic objects. We see him running as if it was away from something. He is in a mask, protecting identity and hiding the face, from stereotyping and assumption of what a face means, as it can restrict opportunities. 

Throughout the video, there are a variation of panning and tilt shots, representing the character exploring the landscape, trying to find an escape route from the slavery.

At the end of the video, we see the same character, without the mask, standing, looking lost and without hope, surrounded, trapped and captured. 

He is a slave to culture.

Blood on the Leaves…

Ancillary Task: Album Cover pt 1

This is the first digitisation of my album cover. It is very far from completion but I wanted to get it digitised so the real developments can take place. 

There are a few areas that I defiantly want to change, the typography, the eyes of the cover image and the black background.

Choosing photos for Ancillary task: Album Cover.

Here are the contacts sheets from the shoot which took place on Wednesday 11th February for the cover of my album cover for Yeezus.

From this stage I selected my favourite, and most suitable images which I could use for my album cover.

The images I have chosen are two different styles of photographs, most include movement, which are visible through long exposure, which are aesthetically pleasing and also fit the aim.

This one below is my favourite, because of the images and shape created through the long exposure

as it gives of images similar to flames, which are dark and artistic.

Below is the photo Im going to use for my cover of the album Yeezus. I will work with the image to form different images from this photo.