Construction Post 6: Website post-production

As we have finished our music video, we have decided to focus all of our attention on the digipak album cover and website. For this, we will use Wix.com; a cloud-based web development platform that allows users to create HTML5 websites.

Due to the fact that we are still working on the album cover, we have decided to split up the roles slightly differently. Alistair will be in charge of the technical and navigational aspects, Shayam will focus predominately on the content and I will concentrate on the visual aesthetic. Having said this, we will not stick exclusively to our sections, we will just be managing particular sections to ensure the website is completed on time.

After having set up the site, we decided on our color scheme. We have chosen a plain black as our primary color and white for all text. Although there are many sites use white for the background color, we felt that our genre would be better connoted using the inverse. This was anchored by my previous research into other alt. rock websites such as 'Arctic Monkeys' and 'Catfish And The Bottlemen'.

'Catfish And The Bottlemen' Website Header

We have now chosen our formatting style, a classic banner across the top of each page that contains links to each of the main pages. The image below depicts our development of the banner thus far.

Inconsistent color scheme

Once we finished the first draft of the site, we had a group meeting in which we highlighted our concerns. This discussion was very productive and we each came up with a variety of different issues. Firstly, I was concerned that the headline font and the logo I had created were not bold enough. Shayam and myself also agreed that we should have a strong color scheme particularly for all the photos in the news column. The final key issue was the lack of interactive media for the fans across our site.

In response to these concerns, we have decided to increase the weight of both the headline and logo, we have made all of the news photos black and white and we have created a variety of different announcement videos; something that has been inspired by bands such as 'Amber Run' and 'The Neighbourhood'.

Consistent color scheme

Improved Header

We have now decided that audience feedback is needed. We decided that Shayam will gather feedback while I continued with the album cover.

Overall the feedback received have been very positive with only a few minor issues. We showed them the website and then asked them a series of questions. Firstly, when asked the genre, 90% defined them as a rock band and the other 10% as a punk band. I was extremely happy with these stats as it shows that our genre semiotics were clear and effective. Other repeated comments were that our "website is very visual and easy to navigated" and that "the logo is really cool". However, there was some criticism. A few audience members suggested that "there should be an enter site page" and that we "should include some kind of live image feed".

We have now created a black and white simplistic enter page (below on the left) and we have inserted a live link to our Instagram feed that will be on our homepage (right).


These two tools are very common conventions in the rock genre. The enter page immediately presents the brand to the audience, which immediately anchors the band's identity. The Instagram feed also helps to connect audiences and highlights the consistency and symbiosis across all of the different platforms.




We have now decided to add some more interactive tools:

1) An album release countdown (left).

2) A ticket purchasing form (right).

3) A newsletter sign-up form (below).

Overall, I have found this software quite straight forward and very effective. It has allowed us to create a very professional and fully functional site and the constant ability to edit and improve the site to maximize our use of audience feedback. I am very pleased with the outcome and I would definitely use this site again to make another website.

Construction Post 5: Digipak post-production

Creating the Digipak was the probably the most difficult and time consuming aspect or post-production. This was very unexpected, as we felt that since our photo shoots had gone so well and our images were of good quality, post-production would be quite straight forward.

Initial Flat Plan Idea

Our Background Initial Ideas

We started the process by revising our initial ideas and the flat plan I had created. However, this didn't inspire my ideas, instead it has cause me to feel slight apprehensive about our album cover idea. Despite my concern, we have decided to continue with our idea a create a rough edit using our original images.

Here is the outcome of the rough edit:

 Unfortunately, this has only re-enforced my cause for concern and after a group meeting we have decided to get some audience feedback. We also confirmed that we were all interested in testing out the static idea. As a result, we have decided that Shayam will go and collect audience responses while I experiment with the idea of static.

We have now collected quite a lot of feedback and the large majority have confirmed my worries. Despite the constructive and useful advice, it was mostly negative. The most significant statistic was that 80% of the audience did not understand the symbolism of the heart-shaped balloons. In addition, over half of the people thought the brick wall was too cliche and 70% thought the lamp on the back panel was irrelevant. Although this is a set-back for our project, I am very keen to learn from their advice and improve the quality of our next ideas. In order to ensure this, I have created this list of the key criticisms and how we will avoid this occurring on the next draft.

Meanwhile, I have been experiment and developing our static idea. I was immediately inspired when I came across this image (right) on a google image search. I started to think that we should created an effect which looked like we are inside the TV. After checking that idea with my group, I tried to push the idea further and use 9 different screens that held a different part of the original image. After all the development of the ideas had been done we split up the jobs again. Shayam drew a new flat plan and I did a few rough edits of the cover.

Here were the outcomes:

New Flat Plan

New Rough Edit 1

New Rough Edit 2

New Rough Edit 3

As can be seen by Rough Edit 1+2, the 9 different screens didn't work very effectively as it cut of most of the faces. As a result we have decided to return to the primary static idea of one big screen, as seen in Rough Edit 3. The other significant change we made was the album name. Before we had started production we had planned to call it 'The Honeymoon Is Over...' and we felt that these sarcastic undertones would compliment our band's image very well. With that being said, we mutually agreed that it wouldn't make sense to use that title with this new static idea and so thought up a new title; 'No Signal'. This fits with the connotations of the cover whilst also accurately re-inhance our band's brand.


I then published Rough Edit 3 on Survey Monkey (an online surveying site) in order to gain some broader feedback. As you can see below, this received very positive responses and the changes to be made are only minor.

We have now made a few of these alterations and will begin to work on the 2 inside panels.

The process for the inside has been a lot easier, as I had a stronger idea of how it should look from the beginning. I started off by thing about what you normally find inside of an album and as a result I remembered the lyrics books that I used to sit and read when I was younger. This sparked my creativity and I began to think of a way that I could incorporate it into our inside cover in a satirical manor. I began testing it on Photoshop and this was the initial outcome.

I have used the lyrics to their single 'Trip Switch' and the duplicated them to the point where is becomes unreadable. I was very happy with the conceptual idea as it will be interpreted by our audience in a variety of different ways in order to gratify their own needs. However, as can be seen from the image above, we were undecided upon the color scheme and whether we should use the inverse or not. As a result, Shayam and I did some more audience feedback. The majority preferred the white text on the black background, however after a group meeting we felt that the black text would juxtapose the white text on the front cover and therefore the panels would work together more cohesively. We then decided to use our 4 profile shots on the left hand panel in order to anchor our individual representations and help give the audience a further sense of the band.

Here are the final outside and inside covers:

Final Outside Cover

Final Inside Cover

Overall, I have really enjoyed doing this album cover and I am very happy with the results.

Construction Post 4: Music Video post-production

I have created the Prezi below to explain what software I used in post-production, how I used it and issues we faced along the way.

Overall, I really enjoyed post-production for our video as I felt we had a very strong vision and a good sense of what we each wanted as our final product. In addition, after production weeks 1+2 we had a vast variety of rushes most of which were good quality, which made cutting the sequence together easier than expected. Although grading was difficult, it was a really valuable experience as it taught us communication within the group and proved the importance of constant audience feedback.

Having said this, there are a few things that I would like to improve. Firstly, I think that there should have been a larger variety of shots that exposed the Cinema 4D alpha masks effect. Secondly, I would like to have captured more Bokeh shots of the view from the rooftop as I think they added an artistic value. Furthermore, I would have liked to spend more time perfecting and stylizing the grading in order to give the video a more cohesive structure. Finally, I would of liked to make the lip-synch more exact, because in certain shots it wasn't very precise.

Construction Post 3: Week 3 production

The Schedule

Since we were able to successfully capture all of our footage for the music video in weeks 1+2, we are able to use week 3 exclusively for promo and album cover shots. This is extremely beneficial to our project as it has allowed us a lot of flexibility to experiment and test different ideas.

Over the course of the week we had 3 slots in the studio for our photo shoots:

• Monday 23rd November 9.30 -12.30
• Wednesday 25th November 11.10-12.30
• Friday 4th November 16.00-18.30

Monday 23rd November

Due to our timetables we have decided to split this session into two. From 9.30-10.50 Shayam and Alistair will work together to test various different positions and styles of lighting and then take some individual shots of Shayam for the website. Then from 11-12.30 I will work with Luke (lead singer) and take some test individual shots of him.

Splitting the session was a very good idea as it allowed us to get a large variety of shots in a short space of time. Looking back at the photos I think that we do have a lot of usable images, however I do think that Luke's outfit in particular need to be more stylized as the green jumper does not have vey edgy and cool connotations. In addition, we have decided as a group that we should try to tame his hair slightly as it looked a bit too messy in these photos.


Wednesday 25th November

A selection of the pair shots we took

We will use this session for our pair shots. First Luke and Seb and then Shayam and myself. We will also use this shoot to introduce the changes to looks costume and hair.

Our Make-Up Station

Thakshana (classmate) doing my make-up
prior to the shoot.

We met at 10.50 which allowed 20 mins before the start of the shoot to do the boys' hair and make-up. Although they didn't need much make-up, their hair was quite tricky, so I did Seb's hair while Shayam did Luke's. I concentrated on adding volume to Seb's hair as it was naturally quite flat, however I wanted to avoid his hair looking overly styled which would connote the wrong representations. After their costume was finished, Shayam and I went to get ready ourselves whilst Alistair took pictures of the boys.

We asked one of our classmates who is very experienced to help with our make-up and we showed her various different references to ensure she would achieve the right look. We then returned to the studio to take our pictures and due to working effectively we managed to finish with time to spare.

Friday 4th November

One of my individual shots

One of Seb's individual shots

We will use this session to shoot mine and Seb's individual shots, each of our profile shots and all of the band shots. We will have to work very quickly for this shoot as we have a lot to do and a short amount of time to do it in.

Harsh Shadow Test Shot

As expected we were very pressed for time, but we did manage to complete all the desired shots. All of the single shots were very fast and easy to take and it did not require any special lighting or positioning. However, the group shots took significantly longer because we were finding it difficult to eliminated unwanted shadows using just 3-point lighting for 4 different subjects.

The most difficult shot was the group with harsh shadows across each of our faces, due to the complicated lighting and a lack of appropriate equipment. As a result we decided to take these shots individually and if needed we could comp the shots together to create a group shot.

We took multiple different shots for our album cover, including some sitting down. However, the most successful were the standing staggered images. Initially we had planned to only have this photo with the balloons that juxtaposed with our expressions, in order to create sarcastic connotations that would compliment our album title 'The Honeymoon Is Over...'. Despite this, we decided to take the shot without the balloons as a precaution and in case we changed our album idea/title.

Construction post 2: Week 2 production

We have decided to use this week for capturing our performance shots. This week is going to be quite difficult because of our locations and the hours that we will be shooting.

In preparation for this shoot, we made a list of all the alterations and considerations that we needed to make. Below is a picture of our original list that I wrote.

As can be seen from the long list, we had a variety of different issues, however most of which are minor. They are mainly precautions because of the fact that we didn't have the drummer nor the drum kit for the test shoot. We have used this list as reference to adapt our shoot board and schedule in preparation for this week and we have worked in the various different changes.

On the day of the main shoot, we were all very organized and on time, which help everything run smoothly and we managed to reach the building in Soho at 6pm, the time we had aimed for. 

During the lighting tests

In order to stay on schedule, Shayam and myself focus on the costume, hair, makeup and props, whilst Alistair made sure the lighting and camera was set-up correctly. This worked very well and we were all ready to start filming just a short while later. 

Our Group Meeting

Before shooting we had a group meeting to discuss all the potential safety hazards and all the issues that needed to be dealt with before the shoot could commence. As it had been raining for much of the the day, the ground was quite wet and due to the glass floor, it was very slippery. We all worked on drying the floor and moving any large objects out of the way to setup our scene. Due to really good team work and communication we were able to tidy up the set without much delay.

The large table that needed to be moved

Drying the glass

During most of the shoot I was concentrated on the performance (myself included), which was quite demanding, yet really enjoyable and the same time. Despite this, after having finished my shots on screen, I was able to get behind the camera and film various different solo shots, primarily Shayam's but also some of Luke's. This was extremely rewarding and due the unpredictable nature of filming on location, it offered a different challenge from film in the studio. 

One of the experimental shots I took

We then started to set-up for the Bokeh scenes. Alistair and Shayam focus mostly on the actors and lighting whilst I attached the lens and altered the camera settings. After the practice in the studio, this was quite easy and quick for me, so I began to do some small test on the city lights. The result were really successful and have the potential to be used in our project.

Overall, this shoot went very smoothly and we
were successful in the footage we captured. There were some minor issues with focus and lighting in a very small number of shots, but that will not effect the overall video as we have enough good quality footage to just ignore those specific rushes.

This is our wrap video:

Construction Post 1: Week 1 production

We have decided to use each production week for a different section of footage. We have decided that we will use this first week for capturing all of the studio shots. This is because we think it will be the most difficult part of production, so it seems sensible to do it first and therefore allow time for collateral.

After reflecting on the test shoot footage, we flagged up multiple different issues and made changes accordingly.  

• The most significant of which was taking out the UV face paint scene and although there was good reason for it, it has also left space in close to a third of our video. As a result, we have made several changes to our shoot board as we now must include more filler and dynamic shots in order to "bulk out" our video.
• Secondly, we also felt that there was a lack of variety and composition in the shots so as a result we have add more extremely angles and a wider range of close-ups and long shots and over-the-shoulder shots.
• Finally, we have decided to get all the shots both with him singing and without. This is because we felt that in some areas it would be better if he didn't sing, but we have not quite worked out where and we feel it will be easier to judge in post-production. Although doing every shot twice is quite time consuming, we feel that given we have the whole of this production week to perfect these scene, we will definitely have enough time.

Filming on set

Myself filming Luke

We have started this week very well and are working through the shots very effectively. Due to the way our school timetables work we have found that Alistair and Shayam set-up the scenes and then when they have to go to other lesson Luke (actor) and myself are ready to start filming in a previously set-up studio.

Consequently, during lunchtimes and after-school (when we are all together) we make sure to switch around the roles in order to allow us all to have time working on a different aspect of production.

Shay and I cleaning up between shots

 On day 1 we had quite a lot of problems reaching our desires 'Infinite White' background, due to some lighting malfunctions, however work closely as a group, alongside our technician, we have been able to resolve the issue. We had initially thought that this would cause major complications with our shoot schedule, but through working very efficiently for the rest of the day, we managed to catch up the time lost.

One of the first paper kicking tests.

I have found that over the course of this week I have become increasingly inspired to try different angles and different styles of motion. This has allowed us to capture some really interesting composition, and because of good organization and time keeping, we have not fallen behind schedule. Furthermore, in one of my sessions in the studio alone I began practicing the different styles of potential paper kicking shots in order for the composition to hold as much impact as possible.

One of the Bokeh tests

On days 4/5 we have been working on the Bokeh technique and making sure each of the four different words can be seen clearly and it is working to create the wanted effect. I have found that part has been quite time consuming as the filters are quite small and fragile. Having said this, the shots are producing our intended effect and after some audience feedback, we have received some very positive replies. 

Overall, this production week has run very smoothly and I have really enjoyed the freedom of creativity I have been allowed, due to the flexible time schedule. In addition, I have found the dynamic shots really exciting and challenging  to film as it has tested my focusing and framing skills whilst moving around constantly. Apart from working with the camera, I have also enjoyed the performance coaching aspect and I liked working closely with our actor to get him to express the desired connotations. Furthermore, I have also really enjoyed working with the lighting desks, but due to the static and fairly simple nature of our lighting set-up, there was not a lot of work needed and I didn't have as much time to use it as I would have liked.

R+P Post 33: Reflections on my role and contribution during Research and Planning

Myself doing some research

Looking back over the past few weeks I am very pleased with my group and our balanced contributions to the project. I think working together we have all been allowed to focus on our strengths whilst also challenging ourselves in some, perhaps more unusual ways.

I think that I have contributed quite significantly to the idea of the project and the theme of technology and I have really enjoyed working within a group in which we can all connect to the concept.

I have also enjoyed working on the album cover flat plans as it has really allowed me to experiment with the connotation of layered meanings through still images. In addition, I have found the balance between breaking and conforming to conventions quite interesting and it has allowed me to fully understand the power of synergy and has exposed the promotional marketing linked to the production of an album cover.

I also worked alongside Shayam to create the layout and design plans for the website. This task really taught me how strong communication and teamwork can be so beneficial to the creative output.

Furthermore, I was in charge of the costume coordination and design. Initially, I felt that this would be slightly out of my comfort zone, but actually, with the help of my group I felt quite confident in the role and I really liked experimenting with power of representations, through their outfits.

In addition, being a part of the band has also offered me some unique challenges and has really helped me to understand the acting process and the best ways to explain the necessary movements and facial expressions.

Overall, I have really enjoyed the pre-production stage of the project and due to our hard work and commitment, I feel that we are well equipped to start construction.