CD Pack and CD Sticker: First Drafts

This is the first draft of my CD Case Cover.

I made use of my creative skills in Adobe Photoshop.

I used the selection tool to select the parts of the images we took.

I then softened the edges so they look clearer and more attractive, if the edges were sharp then they would not seem very pleasing to the eye.

I made use of text and operated the blending options to make the images more interesting, such as adding an outer glow, I also added a drop shadow to make the pack seem more attractive to the audience.

This is the sticker I plan to use for the CD itself.
I got a real CD to aid me in the positioning of everything (since there is a hole in the centre).

I cut it out a soft copy to see how it would look, the hole would appear between my chin and zip.
I got and measured the CD myself and ended up with 12 x 12.

This is just a draft, I still plan to add more to my pack to make it seem more attractive.

These three images consist of the actual Digi - pack put together by me.














This is just a draft, I plan to create more case covers and I will select one in the end.

CD and Advert Photoshoot

Today we took numerous pictures for our CD Digipack.
We took pictures at different angles and in different locations.

We took a few pictures using this angle, inspired by: "The 15th Day."

We took a similar approach using the wall as an attractive background.

We took a few pictures using this angle as well to show our creativity. Again using the brick background inspired by J Hus.





We also took other numerous pictures for use in our magazine advert and CD Digi - Pack.

Magazine Advert Sketch 2

Shots Sizes.

I plan to use a medium close up for the image which I plan to use for the advert. This would be a good shot to use so that the audience can see the costume and the facial expressions of the actor on the page.

For this idea I plan to make the title a bit more creative with the use of shapes (mainly arrows) which will appear as attractive to the audience and would be more attractive instead of using a simple blunt edge font. We pan to do the same thing with the police tape as the previous idea but only with the date of release. Police tape is used in reality to cut off important areas, we applied this concept to the key information displayed which is the date.

Other Features:

Similar to the previous sketch, we plan to feature a parental advisory logo to warn parents and guardians that the content in the song is deemed explicit for younger audiences and they sould be monitored when listening to it.

Unlike the previous sketch, I plan to feature some reviews from music stations, for this one I have planned to use BBC Radio as a reviewer. Also I have featured some reviews from J Hus to make it look more like a magazine advert.

Lastly like the previous post, I plan to feature the platforms or apps which this song will be available on such as: Deezer, Spotify, Google Play and iTunes.

Magazine Advert Sketch 1

Sketch 1:

For this sketch I planned to make it creative by adding the police tape across the cover and putting the title of our song on it.
We did the same thing with the police tape when it came to the release date, in explanation police tape is used in reality to cut off important areas, we applied this concept to the key information displayed which is the date and the title.

Camera Shots and Sizes.

We plan to take a variety of pictures and select the one we want later. But our primary idea is to take a medium long shot so that the audience viewing it can see the characters facial expressions and costume.

I also plan to feature Tyreek on the cover wearing a mask which highlight the theme of betrayal (paigon). He will be placed on the lower right of the page, his shot will be a close up since the key feature of his character is the mask.

Other Features:

We plan to feature a 'Parental Advisory' logo to alert parents and guardians of the language and themes which may be deemed explicit for younger audiences,

We also plan to feature the various platforms or services that the track will be available on, such as Deezer, Spotify, iTunes and Google Play.

CD Production Pitch - 6/12/16

Below is the recorded footage of our CD Digi - Pack Pitch:

Magazine Case Study 3: Devastated

Below is the prezi for this case study

Magazine Case Study 2: Tinchy Stryder

Below is the prezi for this case study:

Magazine Case Study 1: J Hus

Below is the prezi for this case study. 

Class 29/11/2016

Today in class we researched Magazine adverts for our Magazine advert. We looked at key concepts,
such as the way that the actor has been positioned on the advert, the shot size, use of colour, lighting, use of text etc.




We looked at this and took it as one of our possible designs for our music magazine.
We took the way that the actor was positioned on the page into consideration. On the page on the right the actor/lead singers picture shot size is medium close up, to show body language, facial expressions, costume etc.

The use of text, is different, each of the three lines is a different font and different colour, to perhaps highlight the importance of it.

CD Digi - Pack Sketches (Prezi)

Below is a prezi about my Digi Pack Sketches.
Each slide has images/sketches which I uploaded to prezi, along with detailed explanations of why I chose a particular style or shot type.

Research and Planning - How my Skills in Media Improved From AS to A2 (Prezi)

A Prezi about My progress in AS:


 

 The second Prezi about my current A2 progress:

Team Meeting - 28/11/16

In today's meeting we went through possible magazine advert ideas. We also took pictures of ideas from magazines so that we could have content to analyze in preparation for our case studies for the magazine advert we must produce alongside the video and CD Pack.

Call Sheet - Filming

Completed Video - Paigon

We have successfully, filmed, edited and completed our music video.
We received feedback from our classmates and teachers (Vanessa and Amy) and they all said that the changes made were much more effective and engaging for the audience. The changes really made a difference to us as editors, since it gave us the necessary skills and mindset to successfully edit videos to perfection, professionally and without fail in the future.

We uploaded our video to Vimeo since YouTube has huge copyright issues.
The final cut of our video had been embedded below.

We now are currently working on our CD Digipack Case Studies, sketches and ideas.


Paigon from Arshyarn Chaudhry on Vimeo.

Final Cut Editing + Tweaks - 25/11/16

Today me and Tyreek added the finishing touches to the final cut of our music video. We decided on a final title and agreed on "Paigon" as the title.

We made some last minute additions, one of them was to merge the clip of me and one of our actors (Maj) whilst on the phone at the same time to make it seem as though we are communicating (screenshot below):

We put this together last minute since it made more sense, since the audience would constantly ask: "who are you on the phone to?" Which is myself and Tyreek decided to add this scene since it made more sense, even though most of the video is performance based. Therefore I placed one of the clips on top of the other and changed the levels of opacity to show them both simultaneously on screen.

We used the same technique for one of the new clips we filmed of me wearing a cap. We used this since, the repetition of clips which had no effects whatsoever would be boring for the audience and they would be likely to lose interest in the video. So we used the effect of placing a clip over another and changing the levels of opacity to show both clips on screen simultaneously.

We done the same with this clip to keep the audience engaged with the video. We used this technique to blend together three clips together simultaneously. We showed this to our teacher, Amy. She and other students we showed it to said it was very effective and professional in terms of the style/genre of the music video.

We successfully completed our music video on time, and we uploaded to Vimeo, since YouTube had huge copyright issues and would instantly mute the video.

We now are currently completing our case studies in preparation for the production of our music videos' CD Digi pack.

Final Cut Editing + Tweaks - 24/11/16

Today I booked our place in the editing suite in the morning for 4.20 till 5.30.

In the edit suite, sensibly using the time we had, we made some adjustments to the video in terms of syncing and colour correction.

Also we are on the verge of wiping out of the unnecessary skull clips. We have replaced them with the new clips which we filmed the day before.

We made some minor adjustments in terms of lip syncing and made sure that the dance moves linked well with the actors hand gestures and performance.

We added some new effects and made some tweaks to the channel mixer effect on the clips which had that effect applied to them.

 We got a lot of work done this evening, we made successfully made adjustments where they were required. We added the new footage to our video and got rid of the scenes which were not entirely necessary, excess performance with no lip syncing was replaced with new lip syncing clips.
Tomorrow is the deadline for our music video. We plan to do last minute checks tomorrow and make any last minute tweaks. We will then export from Adobe Premiere Pro and upload it to Vimeo (since the copyright system is much more                                                                                     developed on YouTube) and then embedit in our                                                                                     blog.

Final Cut Editing + Tweaks - 23/11/16

Today, me and my media partner replaced some of the skull clips with the new clips we filmed in the studio that same day.

We made adjustments to the clips which were a little out of focus and required adjustment in the way which they appeared during the video.

Since we were their for a while and a lot of spare time, I researched some new editing techniques. I came across one where I could have three clips playing simultaneously at the same time on screen.
To this I had to position the clips the way which I wished, and then changed the level of opacity for each clip. This technique was useful and I applied it to our final cut which is still in progress and will be completed on Friday the 25th of November. The technique is seen in the image which I took while editing our final cut earlier on this evening at five o'clock.

Rough Cut Screening + Feedback

We screened the first cut of our film to the entire class on the large projector screen.




Our feedback from our class mates and teachers was good overall. The main concern in our video was that its story was still a little confusing.
The class asked us: " If the paigon is the one who betrays, then why is he performing?"
After that question was asked I then understood that we needed to remove some of the skeleton mask scenes from our video. However we plan to use it a few times as a still image to show the theme of betrayal in our video.
So the day after we re filmed a few scenes that we could use to replace the scenes where there was too much use of the mask.

We removed most of the footage which involved skulls. and replaced them some new footage we filmed.

Also there were mostly people who said that there was a fair amount of rap videos which contained masks, however the only issue was that the video is more performance based by looking at the rest of our footage.

So as a result of the feedback we removed most of the skull footage and replaced it with new footage we filmed in the studio.

Our classmates and teachers gave us positive feedback when it came to the editing itself.
They said that the accuracy of the editing and clips syncing very well with the beat was done excellently. The choice of colours was compulsory in my eyes since, the video would have been a bit plain if there was no colour variation. So me and my work partner made use of the channel mixer tool in "effects" in Adobe Premiere Pro. This was very "pleasing to the eye" as my classmates and teachers said,


Lastly one of our classmates popped the comment, that there was not enough shot variation all of the studio scenes we too zoomed out and the street scenes were too shaky and not very comfortable for the eye when viewing. Which is why (as said before) we re-filmed at different angles and focused on medium close ups. We also changed it up a little bit by including a hat and lip syncing the song whilst sitting on a reversed chair.

Our first cut of the film was rated 7/10 according to our classmates. We aim to do way better in our final cut which is currently in production and will be uploaded soon.

CD Pack Case Study 3: The Weeknd: "Beauty Behind The Madness"

Below is a prezi which I produced for my third CD Pack case study:

CD Pack Case Study 2: Avicii: "True"

Below is the Prezi Which I Developed for this Case Study.

CD Pack Case Study 1: J Hus Mix tape "The 15th Day"

Below is a prezi which I put together for this case study.

Editing Rough Cut 1 - 16/11/16

Today we worked on the finishing touches for rough cut one, so it is ready for screening on Tuesday.
We adjusted the shot sizes (because if it is zoomed in too much it blurs out of focus slightly) and we made sure all the lip syncing was as accurate as possible. As we made some adjustments to the clips with channel mixers, we adjusted the colour channel so that it was comfortable to the eye when viewing, because too bright is off putting and to dark is not interesting.

We exported the video, by going to: file, export, media. We saved the video and let it export for screening on Tuesday.

Below are pictures of our in class progress.

                                     Adding the finishing touches and editing the shot sizes.

                                               Exporting Video for Tuesdays Screening.




After our screening we plan to continue improving our video and we will begin planning for our CD Digipack for the Music Video (on Adobe Photoshop).

Rough Cut One - Don't Trust The Paigons

The first cut of our music video was completed successfully we received some feedback from our teacher and some of our classmates.
overall the video was good in terms of editing, the concept of betrayal was clearly shown through the use of the mask (skull). The editing was accurately linked with the beat of the track.

However there were some minor cases of lip sync errors, which can be easily fixed, the use of channel mixer on Adobe Premiere Pro was very good, since it made the video more vibrant and attractive, because an audience is likely to grow board of a video with zero effects, so we made appropriate use of channel mixer to avoid the audience growing board of the video.

We followed editing styles from other songs by the same artist, such as No Lie and Lean and Bop.

We uploaded our rough cut to vimeo, see the video embedded below:

Don't Trust The Paigons from Arshyarn Chaudhry on Vimeo.

Editing Rough Cut 1 - 14/11/16

Today we worked more on the lip syncing. The main part of the video is practically complete. All that remains is a few tweaks to syncing shots with the bass and a bit of work on the lip sycing.
We have decided to remove the lyrics since we were advised by our teachers and we got several viewpoints from our classmates and they told us that it was not entirely necessary, since our audience (16 - 18 years) will understand what is going on in the video.
As a result we removed the lyrics and replaced them by making some of the clips shorter and adding in more between clips and more effects such as flicker and linking cuts with the beat of the song to make it more engaging for and the audience and so they do not grow uninterested. Also to make the video more engaging and interesting for the audience, we added the "channel mixer" effect on Adobe Premiere Pro, we added the effect by dragging and dropping it on to the clip. We then changed the colour and blending other colours together to create something new.

(Tyreek working on syncing the clips with the bass)












                                                                                                                                                                              (Working on the channel mixer effect)


                                                                                                                 




                                                                                 

Editing Rough Cut 1 - 8/11/16

Today we worked on fixing the lip syncing for our music video. As well as working on the quality of clips and stabilizing them in Adobe After Affects.
We focused on the use of different tools for the lyrics in our video which pop out at the audience viewing the video.
Overall we received feedback from our teachers and they suggested on working on the use of shots to create meaning since our video is both narrative and performance based.
We are still working on our video and plan to perfect our editing and work on the lyrics.
We also have to work on the credits at the end of the video.
We worked on shot variety since we noticed that we had too many shots with the actors hood up and this made it a little unprofessional.

(Tyreek working on the shot variety)



                                                                                                    (Me (Arshyarn) working on the lyrics)

Editing Rough Cut 1 - 7/11/16

Today, me and Tyreek received feedback from our teacher Vanessa, and some of our classmates.
Overall the rough cut of our music video, was good, however we were recommended by our teacher to start a fresh project. I happily agreed, since speed is not an issue for me, since I am fully proficient in Premiere Pro.

I then started a fresh product and got just over half way with the entire song, which I am very pleased with.
We touched up the lyrics which pop up around the screen for key phrases in the video (as seen above).
I plan to blog more about our editing and feedback over the next few weeks.




Arshyarn

Lyric Analysis (Annotated)

[Intro]

Aaauhah

Aaauhah

Aaauhah

Aaauhah

Hustla baby

Hustla baby

Aaauhah

Aaauhah

Oooh myyyy!

The beginning is simply a series of sound effects and essentially the build up to the chorus, in most of the artists tracks he features ("aah aah aah aaah") etc. 

[Chorus]

Dem boy paigon

I can’t stand them

I don’t trust you, if you ain’t mandem

They wanna do me, imma do you

Before you do me, imma do you

Before you do me

You must’ve lost your mind

Small boy take your time

Me say take your time

You must’ve lost your mind

Small boy take your time

The First Chorus, is basically suggesting: "Dem boy paigon" means you traitors I don't trust you if you aint mandem (loyal followers). 

Before you do me, imma do you etc, he is going to handle the rest of them before they get down to doing (betraying) him.

[Verse 1]

All these niggas turn fake as their time goes by

All I need, all I need is my ride or die

Yo B, what’s your name what’s your number

Face looking pretty but I’m staring at your (Aaauhah)

And she don’t want no scrub

A scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from her

Zim zimmer, who’s got the keys to the bimmer

Ride for my G’s and their ain’t no team realer

J Hus enter the place

Big fat tool on my waist

Dem boy paigon

You can’t bring ‘em round me

Are you mad, you de craze

Are you mad, you de craze

This verse is speaking about how everyne is no longer official or real as the time goes by (i.e. everyone is false faced and acting (pretending to be someone they are not...)) The final lines of this verse speak about: dem boy paigon (betrayers), you can't bring around me (don't bring them when I am around etc), are you mad, you dey craze x2 (are you crazy) this means you must be crazy to bring traitors and those I cannot trust to me..etc..   

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]

Sexy girl called China

Make you wanna wine and dine her

But one man can’t satisfy her

She needs more wood for the fire

And if you don’t wanna dance to the beat

Just bop your head to the beat

I invested in heat

So let a paigon try me

Now he’s thinking why me

J Hus enter the scene

Big fat tool in my jeans

Dem boy paigon

Don’t bring ‘em round me

Are you mad, are you lean

Are you mad, are you lean

Ohhh, they don’t wanna grind

Go get a day job, go bill a line, I said ohhh        

Go get a day job, go bill a line, I said ohhh

Go get a day job, go bill a line, I said ohhh

Go get a day job, go bill a line 

-  This line suggests that the lead singer has a job etc and those who bertrayed him are at a loss as he is still fine and still perfectly functional. He displays this by saying to them to go and get a "day job" instead always rolling the night and doing nothing holding any value during the day. 

[Chorus]

Location Recce

Film Studio

The film studio located in A22 at Leyton Sixth Form College is a perfect location for filming the skeleton of our music video. This is due to the fact that it has a black background accompanied by a variety of lighting equipment which means that we will be able to film various different effects to be more appealing to our target audience. Also, the area in the film studio is big, therefore we will be able to film from various angles which is vital for our music video.

Essex Road

Essex Road is located directly next to the college and when me and my partner were looking around we found a nice wall which was a good height to be able to record one of our cutscenes. It is very local so we can record during college hours and it will fit into the theme of grime/rap music which is our genre. 
Whilst researching about music within our genre i found several music videos whereby the main actor was sitting on a wall, or a higher object, and looking down into the camera. We will be able to in cooperate some of the more meaningful lyrics into this cutscene.




























Stratford Residential Flats.

These flats were good in terms of location and how attractive they looked, they were located next to the West Field shopping center, so if we needed any last minute props we could easily fetch them from nearby shops.
We filmed our scene with the suits here, this was essential since it would link together much better if rich clothing is worn in rich areas and poor or perhaps casual clothing is worn in poorer/low class areas...

This was also a good location to film in because it is also a convention of rap/grime video to be set in areas where buildings are tall and there are a  large number of balconies. An example of this is a video being set in council estates. 

The area is safe with on site security so we faced no dangers and if any were to arise we would have been assisted by site security.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment.

Studio Scenes

The Studio is most likely, the safest and most popular place to film. We have used it for the skeleton of our music video. The film studio we plan to use is in our College (Leyton Sixth Form College). In the film studio there are few hazards in the studio which need to be taken into consideration to avoid any accidents or injuries. 

The setting of our scene involves low levels of lighting for an intended effect of darkness where the area around the actor matches their emotional state (darkness: betrayal. loneliness etc).

Hazards in this area include wiring which should be taken care of carefully since it is a tripping hazard. 

One other hazard in the studio is the actual studio lights: if they are not being used they should then be turned off since they heat up ridiculously quick and should turned off when not needed. 

Lastly when operating or filming then all bags and other belongings should be moved out of the way since that is another tripping hazard. 

Essex Road

This scene on Essex road is set outside with a camera and a tripod, therefore there was no risk of wires getting in the way. However for the first camera angle, we had to use the tripod on part of the road where cars were driving by, therefore there was a risk of drivers not seeing the camera and tripod. However, we can use one of our bags as a warning to cars that we are recording, therefore they know from a distance to avoid driving into the tripod. Also, the street is lob sided, therefore we have to be careful that the tripod did not fall over and break the camera.

Stratford Residential Area.

In the Stratford Residential Area near the Olympic Park there were very little risks, this area was useful for our video, since it looked attractive and linked well to why we were wearing the suits, i.e. suit - rich area, tracksuits. baggy clothing - lower class/poorer areas. This location was important to our video since, locations where there are tall buildings and lots of balconies are a convention of rap videos hence the urban culture/lifestyle displayed in urban dramas or other videos. There were no potential threats in this location, however if any did arise, we would immediately seek advice or assistance from the on site security.