Plan

Gabrielle Aplin's EP's

Looking at Gabrielle Aplin's EP art is very helpful as I can connect with her style to create a good digipak for my product. Gabrielle's 'Acoustic' EP and 'Never Fade EP' have an image of her positioned to the side on them, clearly connoting her significance. Whilst her 'Home' EP has an image of her as a young child with her dog - I discovered this through previous research, however the image denotes this relationship well, especially with the title 'Home'. In 'Never Fade', the EP in which the song I have chosen ('Ghosts') is from, I feel as though the connection between audience and artist is increased due to the pink flowers in her hair as they connote warmth and nature, again denoting my reasons for choosing nature as a conceptual theme within my music video. In her most recent EP 'Home' the sepia toning really appeals to me, as I feel it iconically connotes nature and the autumn season, which is further connoted through the image - similar to the 'Never Fade' EP. These comparisons bring forth the notion that Gabrielle's music is very personal and she wants her audience to appreciate and understand the themes and ideas in her music. This research has helped me a lot as I'm closely approaching the creation of my digipak and I now feel as though a friendly and natural theme and style is what I need to aim for.

Creating the Digipak

I want to create my digipak using this template:

Having researched a lot of templates I feel this is the easiest template to understand due to the labelling of measurements and names. 

Progressing the Narrative

As my music video is a mix between both conceptual-based and narrative-based music videos, I've noticed that the narrative style has been slightly overlooked, as my particular focus was nature. A clear ending is necessary in my music video, and this is a particular aspect I need to address as I'm nearing the end of the project.

For the ending of the video, I want to have the character reaching a destination; throughout the video it's as though the character's journey is being followed, which is reinforced through the lyrics (Ghosts - Gabrielle Aplin (SONG CHOICE)) "home becomes what you're scared of the most" denoting the characters fear of home.
An idea I want to progress is having the character reach a slightly homely environment yet not in a house. By using a log cabin type area this will connote home, yet will still be in keeping with conceptual idea of nature.

Editing 05/01

Following my last filming session I think that I have learned a lot, as I understood the necessity for the character to be clearly seen, as well as being able to show the progression of the character's journey within the narrative.
When editing the footage, this made me realise even more the importance of viewing the character face on. I noticed that I could already make connections with the character within the opening few seconds, as the audience isn't left waiting for her appearance for too long. As well as this, I noticed that I didn't have enough footage, as at first I assumed my footage would be useable for at least 3 minutes, however when editing I felt that nearing the end I was running out of footage at only 2 minutes. An aspect that I am slightly anxious about is whether I'm going to be able to create a 4 minute music video that doesn't get boring as it progresses, as now I've completed roughly 2 minutes 30, I feel as though the footage could be too repetitive. To avoid this mishap I'm going to do another filming session in which I'll use a different location to avoid it getting tedious, but inkeeping with the natural environment. I also think that my ending will help to avoid this, as the location will be completely different all together. Another worry is the transaction from the nature environment to a slightly more urban area, I want it to be clear that the character is reaching somewhere she's been looking for, but I'm now wondering how I'll make this clear enough. I'm going to do another shot list and storyboard for the ending to ensure that I avoid these issues.

Digipak and Magazine Advert Shots

Whilst filming I felt it would be beneficial to gain some shots for my digipak as well. I'm pleased with the shots as I was able to use a camera with a range of effects on which I feel suit the style I want to achieve well.
I think that the melancholic and dreary style of the song 'Ghosts' is clearly connoted through the black and white effect, as it connotes fear/unhappiness which is further connoted through the lyrics of the song. I feel that the images are particularly denote nature, especially the tree/leaf shots - I want to keep the style within my ancillary texts as well as the music video, as I think this will benefit the overall success of my product.
Whilst I'm pleased with the shots I think that it will be beneficial to do another shoot and get some more pictures of my singer as these were the hardest shots to get right as they kept blurring, which resulted in only one shot being suitable to use.
I'm fond of the feet shots I've achieved as I feel as though they connote a notion of journey and adventure, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout the song. When thinking about the costume, I feel that the brogue shoe iconically connotes the genre well as it's a stereotypical indie styled shoe, which is another important aspect I need to consider.

 

 

Filming 29/12

During this filming session I took into consideration the recent feedback I had gained as well as evaluating the shots I had previously filmed. It was apparent that I had very little front shots of the character, so during this filming session I particularly focused on close ups and face-on shots. I think this worked well as it taught me the importance of the character, as in my first edited sequence my feedback suggested that the audience wasn't able to make connections with the storyline and character due to the lack of shots of her face. As well as this, I made sure that the building's weren't visible in the shots, as this was a slight flaw with my first edited sequence. I was also able to think about the transition from beginning to end, as feedback suggested I needed an end to the character's journey. Thus, I felt it would be a good idea to begin with nature, however have some aspects of buildings when progressing to the ending in a house environment; I feel that this will inform the audience of the narrative, as the character is able to reach the place she's searching for. However, whilst my filming is gradually progressing, I do think that as the deadline is drawing nearer I need to focus on other aspects of the music video such as the lip syncing shots as they are vastly important in aiding the success of the video.