Researching into other bands DVD covers/

advertising posters for the single,

Similar genres?

Similar styles, influential?

Smashing pumpkins

Smashing pumpkins are a band with a similar genre to the band 3OH3!

The image below is a DVD cover for one of the smashing pumpkins tracks, here its noticible its been created via illustration, i particular like this as its different to the stereotype of "the title of the song and a picture of the band below". The illustration looks very symbolic of a religious poster, it kind of reminds me of 'Buddha' with the decoration around the head.

The Gallows

Like the smashing pumpkins Dvd the imagery is once again illustrated rather than photographic.

An experimental video, capturing and connecting edited photographic footage.

So here i have edited a series of photographs using

the software PHOTO SCAPE.

As i have explained further down my blog, this is purely just to see what the difference is on whether it was worth editing the photos beforehand,

i think it was as increase of colours and contrast etc has made the moving image footage allot more atmospheric.

I just need to possible capture some footage of something difference, rather than just beaches as the viewer may become bored.

On which i don't wish to achieve for my music video, i am however pleased the direction of my production.

Of course if this was in reality i would have various people working with me all doing separate jobs, but as i am doing this independently as a school project i am doing everything by myself. Creating and thinking of the ideas, directing the motives, going out and actually taking the photographs, creating the production, editing and using various software, sorting thousands of pictures into 48 separate folders so that each moving image product flows, checking for errors and miss placed imagery, setting up camera work and locating to specific areas needed to film (beaches etc), blogging the process as i go along, practicing and continuing to express ideas on how to improve the production.

The Photos used in this video are edited, if you compare to the previous video in the previous post.

I am now enduring on the production woo.

I think if i can continue to edit the video footage , i can make it look more and more professional. I think i need to think about my usage of composition, camera shots and what not on a more highly developed scale and so enduring the audience to my video. I think i can achieve this by cropping and selecting specific images. I have also become aware of how to make videos longer and shorter on windows movie maker, you simply drag the footage to a longer amount of seconds on the frame, this lengthens the amount of seconds per picture thus making the video longer.

Looking at editing stop motion footage, becoming familar with

software. (Unedited Photos) Just to see the difference.

I have as you may now know, edited all my pictures to a standard i am happy with,

i thought however i would keep some unedited pictures and transform them into videos

just to see the effect i may have got have i not edited the photographs,

I played around with odd videos, this is nothing on which my video will look like, as all details will be refined, with higher depth and contrast, larger output of warmer colours etc.

At the moment i am simply experimenting with figuring out timing to pictures.

I still can't believe i managed to take so many pictures (1000 and something) and actually been able to turn it into a moving image production without major software, it has so far just taken up alot of time and effort. On which i don't mind of course as its something i love,

i am by far exceeding my skills on moving image.

I'm normally more situated with photography, but as the task was to create a music video i used photographic knowlegde to bring it in to my production as an advantage.

The photos in this video are Unedited

The quality might have been degraded due to the fact that i reduced the memory so thats its easier to upload on the blog, of course when producing the final video the quality will be 100 % .

The interferance of the megapixels is due to how i

have reduced the size of the file, i changed it to 300x200 so that its capable to be uploaded to the internet, when my video is of a finshed product it will be kept the same (high quality) possibly .

The video above is a snip clippet of unedited footage, i kept the rest of the track on so that you can listen to the song i am creating the video for.

Becoming Familar with Video Editing techniques

A VIDEO CUT PRACTICE

Using the software windows movie maker , cutting, copying and

placing pictures into an order which flows and links, connecting them to

certain times of the song track. Referring to amount in seconds.

So i don't really have any fancy software to edit video with on what a
commercial scale would be using, but i have windows movie maker, here i am going to use
the stop motion process to put my video together, I have been playing around seeing how to do this and how to do that etc

I am just experimenting with how I'm going

to put the video together, having edited the folders and what not, i am now starting to place odd bits together to see what the outcome might look like. Here i am starting to understand the software and so becoming familiar with possible faults. etc

Obviously this is going to be a long process so its going to take some time until i get to the final cut.

I am really happy that the stop motion process fits with my track, at first i was a bit cautious due to the fact there could be a slight delay due to the picks flowing continuosly but i have managed to work around this, making sure the seconds shown per picture are the same. and so continuous.

As you can see i have edited the separate frames in the video posted above, if you compare this

to the video i previously posted, the video is far more

contrasted, sharper and above all more colour brilliantt.

Editing the separate folders

Editing the separate folders of pictures for final editing of video production.

Unedited

Edited

EDITING PICTURES BEFORE AND AFTER.

here you can see how i have edited this particular picture, the picture above is the edited and the one above is the unedited, all i have done is upped the contrast added a filter effect and some sharping, i have done this to every single picture on folder 47 so far i have however started some other folders another 40 something but i'll get through them i enjoy and plus the extra effort will be worth it through the video.

this is an unedited stop motion video,

merly just about 10 seconds,

with every folder there will be one video and so 48 videos like the one above (though this is an unedited version so i will upload and edited verson to let you see what the outcome of the final product will look like)

Editing Photographs Ready for Video production.

Editing photographs ready for video production.

Okay so I've explained about how I've sorted all the photos into 48 separate folders and now this post will explain on my movements towards the actual editing of the photos within each folder.

Using 'Photo Scape" the software i managed to download from the Internet, i have began to edit the photos starting at folder 1 out of 48, i know this is going to take allot of time to do but i am sure the overall outcome will be worth the effort.

Opening up the software it gives me the option of "Batch Editing" this is something that is excellent for something that i am hoping to achieve, making sure that all the photos in each stop motion sync are edited the same, for example the lighting/contrast has to be the same if the video is too flow successfully, otherwise there might be a difference in the flashes, and so every other flash would be noticeable due to the different lighting in each photograph.

Editing the photographs using the software "photoscape"

For example editing......................

Editing Folder 47

Editing folder 47 took a bit of time as this was the first time i was using the "Batch Editing

Task"

on PhotoScape.

The Batch editng software gives you a choice of editing techniques for example

Above is an image of the software i have been using to edit the photographs,

it gives you an option to edit photographs in BATCH, and so you can select a number of photographs

and edit them in one continuous process.

Auto contrast - here you can adjust whether you want the picture to have

LOW, MIDDLE OR HIGH auto contrast.

Sharpen- here you adjust the percentage of how more sharp you want the picture

(this is handy if you want sharpen a blurry picture)

Backlight Correction- this gives you the control of how much light you

wish to let into the picture further,

you are given a choice of percentage with this too

Darken- this is an option which gives you as an editor the avalibility to darken the

picture without disrupting

Film- this gives you the option to add a filter to your picture ie in this case a Film like filter

you can choose from CINEMA, CROSS PROCESS ETC

Deepen- this gives you the opportunity to deepen

the picture and so mark out any

highlights with dark tones, a bit like contrasting a picture but just a lot more depth.

Collection of Anaysis/ Questionaire

Textual Analysis of a DVD cover

3OH3!

The image above is a DVD cover for the band's single

"Don't trust me" the use of graphology presented enhances the single, enduring the audience to view the cover. I think the DVD cover is particularly important in advertising the single, as its a way of reaching out to their chosen target audience.

The image i think should be something that relates to the music video and here this DVD covers emphasises this exactly as in the music video the band members are wearing the same clothes and its as if its the image is a friezed shot from the video.

Questionnaire / survey

Textual Analysis of an existing texts.

scan DVD covers in.

and just write a bit about it

The After Math /Organising and Re-arranging

Organising the photographs.

After taking the photographs, i flicked through them holding down the right button on the camera this gave me an almost quick incentive in to what the video was going to look like, i was really happy with the effect of the outcome, i really felt i had captured the right footage for my video and i was almost certain this would be enough footage for the 3 minute production. I took 1034 pictures in two hours, merly just keeping the shutter on continuous. I made sure i charged my camera on full the night before so that no camera delay would interrupt the amount of seconds, i need the amount of seconds between each picture to be the same so that the stop motion is able to run correctly without odd delays or blackouts, blackouts being when the amount of seconds between each picture is to long causing a shutter delay/pause.

this is not to do with my music video but i thought it would be cool to post it on here:

http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/pigeonsandpeacocks/2009/09/jade-danielle-smith/

Anyway organising and arranging is something that is fairly important if i am to create to this music video effectively, i deleted unnecessary pictures and placed them into a separate folder just in case i needed to go back to them.

After removing all the randoms, i made sure all the photos were organised.

Organising the photographs was a nightmare, sorting one thousand and something pictures so that they fitted accordingly with there continued series is something that takes allot of time.

Sorting the photographs so that there ready for overall editing for the music video.

So that the music video flows correctly without any delay i have sorted all the 1000 pictures into separate folders, all together 48 different folders, this has made it much easier to organise/ edit/ arrange and create the separate videos.

To make the video i am going to create separate videos with each collection of frames, then once i have got a collection of several stop motion videos, 48 in this case due to that's how many folders it took to sort out the pictures in to groups, i will use windows movie maker to put together the different videos, adjust the speed, the time delay how they fit in terms of order, whether to copy and paste particular frames to repeat motions, on going backwards, say like could speed up someone walking fast to one tempo and then repeat the frame only doing it backwards, so that it looks as if the person is walking really fast forward and backwards, this could be particular effective with the high tempo that comes with this song.

Anyway before i do that i need to make sure all the photos that i have separated into 48 different folders are sharp/focus enough for the video to be watched clearly. Also i am to edit photos indivually and in batch, considering the contrast the hues ect.

EDITING.

Photoscape

I am to begin to edit my photos via the program 'Photoscape' its a copy of 'Photoshop' though free from the Internet and with allot less editing software, its basic, but i can use it too its best. I suppose doing with what you've got to the best you can do. I have decided to use this software as i am familiar with it and i don't actually own Photoshop nor does the school, though they too have something else that is similar i am not familiar with the editing so i am to use 'PHOTO SCAPE', something that is wicked and easy to use and i think will be well suited in getting the overall outcome that i want from my video.

I had to sort the photographs into 48 different folders as when i uploaded the 1000 and something pictures, they uploaded or mixed and rambled this was annoying as this meant that i could'nt just copy and paste particular orders of photos they were all mixed. And so this took allot of time and effect to sort out.

I uploaded them into one massive folder and started at the stop clicking on each picture with Windows picture viewer, then sorting out which photographs went after that particular picture, dragging them into the first folder, i would scan down the folder looking for photographs that matched (say like the first twenty) and with stop motion videos needing a long line of pictures to make it work, i would say there was about 60 photographs per one stop motion sync. Its a bit like creating an animation making sure they all flow and are connected in sync with each other, this is very important if i am to make this video work.

I can't have rambles and mixtures of order, say like ten pictures of a person walking into the sea and then randomly it jumps to a surfer capturing a wave, it just looks messy. So before i was to edit the photos for contrast and hues i made sure that the order was in sync.

Now i am left with a large folder which inside contains the 48 folders of now sorted and syncing photographs that make separate stop motion videos which by the end of this long long process will all flow together nicely. As you can see this has taken allot of time, if this was to be done professionally I'm sure they would have some kind of specif software for this, or just a dozen different people to do different jobs, i suppose this occurs with any music video.

production of the shoot

Production of the shoot

Armed with my camera and a bottle of sun

tan lotion i set out to find the right location for the shoot,

around where we were staying there was several places where we could have filmed,

me and Georgia (the person i was on Holiday with) walked around several beaches until we found the one that felt right for the video.

The Beach was located alongside a road of small cafes and bars,

the beach was rather wide and spacious and

offered a vast amount of panoramic vistas.

For a popular Holiday destination it was rather quite, we sat out at the beach , deciding what would be good and what wouldn't. i was looking for my perfect surfing scene this had to included the lighting the mood, the feeling and overall the perfect setting for a pop 'Colorado' music scene.

After the mid day sun had reached its peak, the beach became slightly busier on which included allot of surfers, body boarders and skimmers. (skimmers are guys in shorts skimming on small wooden boards on the waves break) a bit like throwing a pebble which just touches the surface skimming across to the other side.

I found the sunshine was too bright during the day to take photos, i needed the lighting to be slightly dim so that the pictures would not be over exposed, it was particular important to get the lighting correct as when placing the photographs together if the lighting was to bright all major detail would be outputted by the brightness of the sun, and so the photograph would flash with every second, (Not all all what i want.)

So i decided to take the photos around evening time, 6PM to be exact, at this time the sun was lowest but still light enough to shoot on a low ISO. (ISO being added light)- but of course with every time i up the ISO , the picture becomes grainier and so i kept it at its lowest of 100ISO.

The lighting at this time was amazing with hues of orange and yellow, the tones were brilliantly highlighted from the reflection of the waves.

I set the aperture to F6 to F8, this was so everything would be in focus and also with such a low depth of field, i was able to keep the lighting just right. Under exposing over exposed highlights. The shutter speed was set to 1/60 to a second and so fast enough to take photos without a tripod.

I used an SLR (single lens reflex) Nikon D60, with a basic kit lens of 35mm to 55mm lens, particularly although this lens is a basic kit lens it is equipped with a vibration reduction DX setting, reduction the chance of blur without the use of a tripod. Also i placed the camera on AF-C , auto focus continuous.

I started taking photographs at about 6pm and finished at around 9pm, this was due to arranging various settings and scenes, i decided to shoot towards the quieter end of the beach facing the direction of the sun, (as it was rather low it didn't really matter as the lighting was too low to over expose) for some shots i faced away from the sun to effectively capture shadow. Though i found only for some shots did i want to include shadow, as with each shot the shadow would change and so this is not very effective if i am to create a continuous video.

During the shooting i was constantly thinking about the composition and how i wanted the video to turn out, creatively thinking about shots and people, and how they would be effective in the video. Due to the song being called 'Colorado sunshine' i was constantly thinking about how Colorado would be reflected in the video and so i was making the video work for that particular setting, focusing on surfing, the sunshine, the waves, the beach and views.

I had basic planning of what i wanted in the video and lighting etc.

But for most i was going along with the scene, i feel this was effective as i was able to capture a moment, so the video is very much CANDID.

I am really happy i filmed this way as looking through the photos and when i put them together i feel as if i captured a particular time lock. locked into my camera and able to play back and fourth and various speeds.

Taking photos naturally had its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages included:

• natural setting
• natural lighting
• capturing a moment
• not made up
• capture the Essenes of surfing
• peoples reactions etc

Disadvantages included:

• Unpredictable
• people realising i was filming and possibly wanting to interrupt
• having to wait and get ready for a surfer catching a wave
• a lot of time
• lighting, waiting for the perfect lighting
• 
  

Candid/Natural setting.

I wanted to capture a moment, rather than creating a fake moment i thought why not capture an actual moment?

Of course i wasn't quite able to capture peoples attention for them to ask/question what i was fulfilling. I suppose because i was female i was able to get away with that "Omg pee do with a camera taking pictures of half naked people" stereotype, maybe that's a bit discrimination. I was merly a teenage girl taking "Holiday snaps" well that's what i think it looked like to the dozens of people walking past. Of course this would be different in the 'real world' , but for now i think i am to take advantage of my 'teenage kid image'. it's like trying to persuade the bus driver

Back from the prodution.

Right I'm back and ready to blog.

I took everything i needed to create the basic ground force for this music video, i was equipped with my Nikon D60 Camera and various chargers, my simple 35mm lens and a flash gun.

When i arrived on Holiday in the South Of France i saw the beach line, it was perfect and only when i was surfing at 8pm at night, i realised how beautiful this beach was. The sun was setting on the horizon, the sea was still warm, and the wind was quiet it was absolutely undescribable. The next evening i decided to bring my camera down to beach to try out some test shots, to decide angles and pretty much what part of the beach i was to use in my moving images.

I wanted to capture the sun setting on the water, on which would bring warm hues to the video. So in that thought i was to make sure i would be shooting around evening time, this had advantages such as the beach was quieter, there was more surfers capturing an evening wave, the sun was low and so pictures were not to be over-exposed, the lighting was JUST perfect, the temperature was cooler and so it was easier to film without the interruption/distraction of the heat.

Here are some of the images from the shooting.