Wow. My last post. Wow.
I've attached my creative critical reflection below. I posted the script on a previous post in case something wasn't understood.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5xkpse88XtpUzZtQjNqMXNSWG8/view?usp=sharing
Thanks for following me throughout this all.
Bye!
-Isa
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Final Project
I can't believe it's all finally done. I hope you love it as much as Cata and I do!
Here is our music campaign-
Video: https://youtu.be/ojAozH_vrPY
Website: http://emsasson.weebly.com/
Digipak: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_d1UeccEiX8VkxxZ3ZMSW9XbW8/view?usp=sharing
For a closer look at each of the digipak panels:
https://www.canva.com/design/DACSI4H7fJA/tfyG4BXWXpMj5QrR_BXEIA/view?utm_content=DACSI4H7fJA&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton
Until next time,
Isa 💗
Here is our music campaign-
Video: https://youtu.be/ojAozH_vrPY
Website: http://emsasson.weebly.com/
Digipak: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_d1UeccEiX8VkxxZ3ZMSW9XbW8/view?usp=sharing
For a closer look at each of the digipak panels:
https://www.canva.com/design/DACSI4H7fJA/tfyG4BXWXpMj5QrR_BXEIA/view?utm_content=DACSI4H7fJA&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton
Until next time,
Isa 💗
Saturday, April 15, 2017
CCR Script
Hello, my name is Isabella Armas and this is my A level Media Studies Creative Critical Reflection. This year, I did a music campaign for Emmanuelle Sasson with my partner, Catalina Castro.
For my AS level project last year, I did a film opening for the movie, Lasting Leah, which portrayed a struggling artist as she channeled her emotions into art. I think that the main difference between last year and this year was the difficulty of working for a real life person. Rather than manipulating all of my own products to my liking, this year I had to consider Em’s opinions. This caused me to be dependent on another person for my work, which definitely took some getting used to.
However, I’m extremely proud of this result and can obviously see the improvements I’ve made over the past year.
-How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
I used an array of different technologies to accomplish all of the aspects of my project. I used my HP notebook to access the internet and download any apps that I needed to use. Additionally, I used the internet for research purposes, and blogger.com to create my blog.
For the music video, Cata and I filmed on an IPhone 7 Plus to maximize the quality of our video. A struggle that we had on the IPhone 7 Plus is that although the camera was very advanced, it absorbed the lights of the set differently every time we started a new video, without us actually changing the brightness. This caused the editing process to be way harder than we expected as we needed to balance the coloring of the shots to the best of our abilities. Catalina and I edited on my computer with the software Wondershare Filmora, a great app that works similarly to iMovie.
For the digipak, Cata and I utilized the online program, Canva. The great thing about Canva was the flexibility that it allowed us to have with the designs. Cata and I were able to create various designs and then compare them to each other right there.
For the website, we used the online program Weebly. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use Weebly because it's extremely user-friendly, especially for those of us who aren't really tech-savvy. One of the best things about Weebly is the template or theme options that can b e selected, especially as Cata and I found a website template that was specifically for a musician.
-How do your products use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
While researching conventions for alternative pop/rock, both Cata and I did case studies on single artists similar to Emmanuelle. We picked Alessia Cara and Ed Sheeran, both extremely successful artists who seemed similar in personality to Em. From them, we drew inspiration to make our website, and included traditional conventions such as having a mailing list, and about me page, etc.
In addition, we embraced conventions by creating a promotional music video as Em’s first video. We decided on a promotional music video as Em isn’t well known yet and consumers must be able to connect Em’s music and sound to her face.
For the digipak, we used a traditional four panel design. However, something unique that we included was Em’s handwritten-type note, which we wanted to include in order for her audience to picture her as personable, something that both millennials and gen-z’s are attracted to. Instead of feeling like they are being marketed to, it feels more friendly.
-How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of branding?
My main purpose while producing each component of the music campaign was creating a sense of cohesiveness. To start, Cata and I had to figure out Em’s brand. Since her music is mostly alternative pop/rock, we tried to portray her in a very androgynous, dark, yet quirky look. Once we nailed her brand, we did a photoshoot that had a lot of street style, which goes hand-in-hand with her personality, fashion and music.
Cage’s dark and heavy beats emphasized Em’s troubled mind, yet the dancer in the video symbolized Em’s expressive and artistic side. The website’s white space allowed for a very clean and friendly look, but the pop of colors in all of the visuals highlighted the diversified sounds that one can find in her album. Her digipak was one of the things that Cata and I struggled with cohesively, as each panel had to be a remembrance of the next. At the end, to accomplish this, we kept using the inside images of the cover design as backgrounds or pop of colors.
I think, overall, the sense of branding in our products is definitely there, as we used some of the images on all of our components and tried to maintain the same color palette and tone throughout.
-How do your product engage with the audiences and how would they be distributed as a real media products?
After much discussion, Cata and I decided that Em’s music was best targeted to young millennials and older gen-z’s, in the age range of 15-30. As research has shown, Millennials and Generation Z’ers have the most purchasing power as of now, which would work to Em’s benefit. They’re also the biggest social media consumers, which is why we placed a huge emphasis on Em’s social media through all of our products, and tried to make her music campaign as personalized and interactive as possible. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are all linked to her website and mentioned in her digipak, as well as her Youtube.
The main way we are planning on distributing our product is through Em’s Youtube Channel. With over 280 subscribers, she already has a small fanbase that she can expand upon. Her website will be promoted and linked in all of her social media. Since she is an upcoming artist, it’s unlikely that she will produce the actual physical album. Rather, she will just use the digipak cover and stream her album in iTunes, Apple Music, and Spotify. Depending on its selling success, she will produce the physical digipak.
The full ‘Cage’ music video will be posted on her Youtube channel, so that interest will spark interest i her fans to listen to the rest of the album. Hopefully, the video will also stream in sites such as Vevo, and clips of it will also be posted on the rest of her social media.
-Final thoughts?
In conclusion, I just want to thank Catalina Castro for being a great partner for this project. We motivated and pushed each other to do our best, and supported each other every step of the way. As for Emmanuelle, I thank her for letting us help her to the best of our abilities, and I don’t doubt her future success. I’m sad that the journey this class has taken me in is coming to an end, but I’m grateful for the skills that I’ve learnt as a producer, director, and as a person.
For my AS level project last year, I did a film opening for the movie, Lasting Leah, which portrayed a struggling artist as she channeled her emotions into art. I think that the main difference between last year and this year was the difficulty of working for a real life person. Rather than manipulating all of my own products to my liking, this year I had to consider Em’s opinions. This caused me to be dependent on another person for my work, which definitely took some getting used to.
However, I’m extremely proud of this result and can obviously see the improvements I’ve made over the past year.
-How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
I used an array of different technologies to accomplish all of the aspects of my project. I used my HP notebook to access the internet and download any apps that I needed to use. Additionally, I used the internet for research purposes, and blogger.com to create my blog.
For the music video, Cata and I filmed on an IPhone 7 Plus to maximize the quality of our video. A struggle that we had on the IPhone 7 Plus is that although the camera was very advanced, it absorbed the lights of the set differently every time we started a new video, without us actually changing the brightness. This caused the editing process to be way harder than we expected as we needed to balance the coloring of the shots to the best of our abilities. Catalina and I edited on my computer with the software Wondershare Filmora, a great app that works similarly to iMovie.
For the digipak, Cata and I utilized the online program, Canva. The great thing about Canva was the flexibility that it allowed us to have with the designs. Cata and I were able to create various designs and then compare them to each other right there.
For the website, we used the online program Weebly. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use Weebly because it's extremely user-friendly, especially for those of us who aren't really tech-savvy. One of the best things about Weebly is the template or theme options that can b e selected, especially as Cata and I found a website template that was specifically for a musician.
-How do your products use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
While researching conventions for alternative pop/rock, both Cata and I did case studies on single artists similar to Emmanuelle. We picked Alessia Cara and Ed Sheeran, both extremely successful artists who seemed similar in personality to Em. From them, we drew inspiration to make our website, and included traditional conventions such as having a mailing list, and about me page, etc.
In addition, we embraced conventions by creating a promotional music video as Em’s first video. We decided on a promotional music video as Em isn’t well known yet and consumers must be able to connect Em’s music and sound to her face.
For the digipak, we used a traditional four panel design. However, something unique that we included was Em’s handwritten-type note, which we wanted to include in order for her audience to picture her as personable, something that both millennials and gen-z’s are attracted to. Instead of feeling like they are being marketed to, it feels more friendly.
-How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of branding?
My main purpose while producing each component of the music campaign was creating a sense of cohesiveness. To start, Cata and I had to figure out Em’s brand. Since her music is mostly alternative pop/rock, we tried to portray her in a very androgynous, dark, yet quirky look. Once we nailed her brand, we did a photoshoot that had a lot of street style, which goes hand-in-hand with her personality, fashion and music.
Cage’s dark and heavy beats emphasized Em’s troubled mind, yet the dancer in the video symbolized Em’s expressive and artistic side. The website’s white space allowed for a very clean and friendly look, but the pop of colors in all of the visuals highlighted the diversified sounds that one can find in her album. Her digipak was one of the things that Cata and I struggled with cohesively, as each panel had to be a remembrance of the next. At the end, to accomplish this, we kept using the inside images of the cover design as backgrounds or pop of colors.
I think, overall, the sense of branding in our products is definitely there, as we used some of the images on all of our components and tried to maintain the same color palette and tone throughout.
-How do your product engage with the audiences and how would they be distributed as a real media products?
After much discussion, Cata and I decided that Em’s music was best targeted to young millennials and older gen-z’s, in the age range of 15-30. As research has shown, Millennials and Generation Z’ers have the most purchasing power as of now, which would work to Em’s benefit. They’re also the biggest social media consumers, which is why we placed a huge emphasis on Em’s social media through all of our products, and tried to make her music campaign as personalized and interactive as possible. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are all linked to her website and mentioned in her digipak, as well as her Youtube.
The main way we are planning on distributing our product is through Em’s Youtube Channel. With over 280 subscribers, she already has a small fanbase that she can expand upon. Her website will be promoted and linked in all of her social media. Since she is an upcoming artist, it’s unlikely that she will produce the actual physical album. Rather, she will just use the digipak cover and stream her album in iTunes, Apple Music, and Spotify. Depending on its selling success, she will produce the physical digipak.
The full ‘Cage’ music video will be posted on her Youtube channel, so that interest will spark interest i her fans to listen to the rest of the album. Hopefully, the video will also stream in sites such as Vevo, and clips of it will also be posted on the rest of her social media.
-Final thoughts?
In conclusion, I just want to thank Catalina Castro for being a great partner for this project. We motivated and pushed each other to do our best, and supported each other every step of the way. As for Emmanuelle, I thank her for letting us help her to the best of our abilities, and I don’t doubt her future success. I’m sad that the journey this class has taken me in is coming to an end, but I’m grateful for the skills that I’ve learnt as a producer, director, and as a person.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Updates
It's CRUNCH time!!!
Cata and I met yesterday and today and have been working tirelessly with this project. It takes a long time to just put everything together and make it cohesive, but we are making very good progress!
Some things I didn't discuss before:
Cata and I met yesterday and today and have been working tirelessly with this project. It takes a long time to just put everything together and make it cohesive, but we are making very good progress!
Some things I didn't discuss before:
- We are using Weebly.com to create Em's website. Cata and I love Weebly because its very user-friendly, especially for those of us that aren't very technologically inclined. We are having a scrollable website because our target audience uses mostly their smartphones to reach websites. Another special feature is that we are including a merchandise tab. Cata and I love the interactive feature of having merchandise, as her fans get tangible materials that link back to the album...and who doesn't love hoodies? Additionally, we are including an email subscription so that her fans can keep up with her latest news and marketing. The URL will be www.emsasson.weebly.com
- For the digipak, we are using Canva.com . We decided on Canva because, similarly to Weebly, its very easy to use and understand. Although it is a bit limiting, it's the best that Cata and I know that we can also work with. Due to time limits, we choose to do a four panel digipak instead of the originally planned six panel digipak. However, I think we made our information more concise so it ended up being better for the overall image of the digipak. The girl that Em hired to do the cover art is behind schedule, so we don't have the finished product of the cover yet. Nevertheless, Cata and I already designed a digipak without the artist's cover art in case she doesn't finish on time (See! We learn from our mistakes!). Here is the last update that we got from the artist:
- As for the music video, we are using Wondershare Filmora. Although iMovie would've been ideal, both Cata and I have laptops with Windows, so we settled on Filmora. It's the only video editing software that Cata and I foung to be most like iMovie, and it really gives us the freedom to do what we want. It also lets you play with saturation, brightness, contrast, and some very cool filters. Our main struggle with the music video editing so far is matching up the visuals with the words on the audio, and trying to balance the overall lighting, as the lighting kept changing for all the videos without us changing the actual lights.
That's it for today,
Isa
Friday, April 7, 2017
Photoshoot
Hey everyone!
So on Wednesday, Cata and I did a photoshoot of Em for her website and digipak. We decided on using Cypress Bay as our set because of the variety of backgrounds that it offered us. Also, since Em isn't allowed to be driven by us, we thought that the school was a good place for her parents to drop her off while at the same time getting some good shots.
Here is a short vlog of our experience:
As a sneak peak into our website, here are some of my favorite unedited shots of the shoot(we took over 500 pictures!):
So on Wednesday, Cata and I did a photoshoot of Em for her website and digipak. We decided on using Cypress Bay as our set because of the variety of backgrounds that it offered us. Also, since Em isn't allowed to be driven by us, we thought that the school was a good place for her parents to drop her off while at the same time getting some good shots.
Here is a short vlog of our experience:
As a sneak peak into our website, here are some of my favorite unedited shots of the shoot(we took over 500 pictures!):
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Filming Process
WE FINALLY FILMED!!!
Yesterday night, Cata and I got to film all of our music video in our school's auditorium. I think one of the best things about filming in the auditorium was that we could manipulate the lighting to give the video a sultry, dark look. Our dancer, Rachel Capo, glowed in that light with a blueish, reddish tint that made the dance even more mysterious.
One of the things that must be mentioned is the skill and professionalism of our dancer. Both Cata and I were left in awe at Rachel's work ethic. She learned the whole dance in less than a half hour, and she danced tirelessly even after we made her repeat the dance countless times. Our coreography, created mostly by Cata, came to life and it couldn't have been more perfect.
Our main struggle with filming the dance was balancing the movement of the camera with the movements of the dancer. Many times, we were too slow to move the camera and capture the dancer's sharp movements. Also, we ran into some problems as we learned to use the lighting and curtains of the auditorium to tailor it to the set we wanted. For example, bringing down the main curtain (which you see as the black background) was extraneous work because it was extremely heavy. Somehow, I ended up being the one always moving the curtain so my hands were raw from the rope by the end. As for the lighting, we played around with the brightness of the camera to make the shots a bit darker and more glowy, but I'm worried because that might have caused the different shots to slightly differ in coloring.
Overall, I think filming went very smoothly. I'm grateful for the team that I worked with and wouldn't change it for the world. The song and vocals created by Em and the emotion portrayed in Rachel's dancing mixed together beutifully to create an intense, dark and yet emotional video.Now that I've filmed, I can't wait to start editing to see the final product.
Here is a short behind the scenes look into our music video experience:
Yesterday night, Cata and I got to film all of our music video in our school's auditorium. I think one of the best things about filming in the auditorium was that we could manipulate the lighting to give the video a sultry, dark look. Our dancer, Rachel Capo, glowed in that light with a blueish, reddish tint that made the dance even more mysterious.
One of the things that must be mentioned is the skill and professionalism of our dancer. Both Cata and I were left in awe at Rachel's work ethic. She learned the whole dance in less than a half hour, and she danced tirelessly even after we made her repeat the dance countless times. Our coreography, created mostly by Cata, came to life and it couldn't have been more perfect.
 |
| Cata going over the movements with Rachel |
 |
| I decided on a natural look for Em's makeup |
 |
| I created shadows in Rachel's face by contouring her face |
Our main struggle with filming the dance was balancing the movement of the camera with the movements of the dancer. Many times, we were too slow to move the camera and capture the dancer's sharp movements. Also, we ran into some problems as we learned to use the lighting and curtains of the auditorium to tailor it to the set we wanted. For example, bringing down the main curtain (which you see as the black background) was extraneous work because it was extremely heavy. Somehow, I ended up being the one always moving the curtain so my hands were raw from the rope by the end. As for the lighting, we played around with the brightness of the camera to make the shots a bit darker and more glowy, but I'm worried because that might have caused the different shots to slightly differ in coloring.
 |
| As you can see, Em and Rachel bonded during the long filming session |
Overall, I think filming went very smoothly. I'm grateful for the team that I worked with and wouldn't change it for the world. The song and vocals created by Em and the emotion portrayed in Rachel's dancing mixed together beutifully to create an intense, dark and yet emotional video.Now that I've filmed, I can't wait to start editing to see the final product.
Here is a short behind the scenes look into our music video experience:
Until next time,
Isa
P.S: Filming dance scenes is a workout! Both Cata and I had to hold the camera and follow Rachel's movements so many times that we too were out of breath by the end.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Music Video Coreography
Hey everyone!
Here is the coreography/written storyboard for the music video. It might be hard to understand, but you will see once we film it. We are finally filming tomorrow and I could not be more excited. Although Cata and I are not coreographers, I have to say that it turned out way better than I ever expected.
Cage Music Video
Voices surround me, it's harder to breathe - Em looking straight out; CLOSE UP PAN
there is no escape, my head is killing me - Em hands to face with tortured look; CLOSE UP
i stand in my cage in silence and fear - Em staring straight into camera; CLOSE UP STILL
for the demons of darkness have driven me here - Em staring into camera; SLOW ZOOM OUT
Sticks and stones- Em; QUICK ZOOM IN
May break my bones but words will tear me apart most of the monsters in my head only scare me in the dark - Em making faces; QUICK VARIOUS SHOTS(CLOSE UPS, PROFILES, EXTREME CLOSE UPS, DANCER QUICK SHOTS ETC)
I'm trapped inside a cage- Dancer wall wall stomach down face slowly up
I'm like- Half extended leg and half turn
a deadly machine- Turn back with tilted leg/split
My heart is locked- Kick tilted leg twice
in chains- Squat with feet outward and then heels up
My mind is a disease- Torso spin in squat with heels up
Can you Can you save my soul?- Slowly go onto back until shoulders touch floor
Can you Can you save my soul?- Rise slowly from the floor until standing straight in tippy toes and hands touching throat
People are watching, they think that i'm insane- Dancer turn dramatically away from camera and walk in circle; Em appears in middle of circle slowly
I see them, they're talking- Dancer in front of Am going down a little
do they know i'm not okay?- Dancer swishes torso to side and smirks
(Beat) Turn to floor and drag behind Em
Shadows are screaming that I am alone- Dancer slowly comes up behind Em; focus moves to Em
I hope it's all a dream, i'm out here on my own- Dancer walks back and disappears
Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will tear me apart
most of the monsters in my head only scare me in the- Em crouches down with Em frantic movements
Dark- blackout or feet shots
I'm trapped inside a cage- Dancer runs up to Em and puts arms around her w/o touching
I'm like a deadly machine- Dancer spreads arms into scarier position and Em moves hands too
My heart is locked in chains- Dancer grabs Em's arms without touching her and tugs her from angled side to side
My mind is a disease- Dancer throws Em down
Can you Can you save my soul?- Em fallen down slowly looking up
Can you Can you save my soul? Em slowly gets up
Deep inside-Em stay still-mid shot
Where nothing’s fine
I've lost my mind
Oh, deep inside- Long shot of Em walking towards camera and Dancer behind her and one w/o
Where nothing's fine
I've lost my mind
(Beat) Dancer freestyle/creepy/zombie clicks
(Beat ) Lights flashing/Strobe lights and Dancer crazy
I'm trapped inside a cage- dancer and Em dance simultaneously
I'm like a deadly machine
My heart is locked in chains
My mind is a disease
Can you Can you save my soul? - Em close up with still camera
Can you Can you save my soul? - Em close up with still camera
Extra footage/Add-Ins:
Camera pans to Em’s medium shot
Dutch angle or 360 of Em
Pan around Em and stop in her profile
Profile of Em still
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