Welcome

Welcome to my media blog, where you will find all the work I have done for my media A Level. I am Harry Kettenis (0390). On the right side of the blog you will find labels that can be used to navigate through my blog, please ignore the "AS Work" label. I am working in a group with Ysabel Hudson-Searle (0331), Matthew Romo (1660) and Josh Stevenson (0796).

Artefacts


Our Music Video



Our Digipak Cover


Our Website

Sunday 21 December 2014

Editing Publicity Shots



First we used the quick selection tool to highlight Yssy and remove her from the off white background. This caused problems around her hair, since it was so curly and spread out, the gaps in between and highlights on the edges of the hair were not picked up.





We then used the refine edge tool to create a natural looking end to the hair that we cut off as it was sticking out.







We then placed the image on a pure white background.


 After this, we adjusted the contrast and lighting in order to make Yssy stand out more. This was because she faded into the background too much before this.












We altered the colouring in order to make Yssy's skin tone look more natural and full.



Once the skin tone was correct, we used the spot heal tool to remove any imperfections and blemishes. This created a single, smooth skin tone.






In this specific shot, we wanted to highlight the rose and make it brighter, so we used the quick selection tool to select the rose and change the colour, making it a deeper red.

Saturday 20 December 2014

Grading

Shown below is our music video with and without grading. This shows how each shot was modified and improved to make it look more aesthetically pleasing and more natural.



Performance

Fire projection





The fire projection shot was meant to be very bright and vibrant, but since the sole lighting source was the projector it was a bit dark, For this reason we increased the brightness of the shot. However, we could not increase it too much as the shot would become too white. 


This shot was very bright to begin with since Yssy was so close to the projector. For this reason, we had to reduce the brightness to keep it consistent with the long shots.


Silhouette



After Effects was used here due to the different shades in this shot. We wanted to make the shot brighter witout affecting the black shadow in the background.




Wet Look


In the wet look shots, the colours were very dull and grey. We increased brightness and contrast in order to make Yssy look much more natural.



Rose






The contrasting colours of the rose shots were picked up very well so not a lot needed to be done as we did not want to lose this contrast. We just adjusted the saturation to give Yssy a less orange and more natural looking skin tone.








Narrative




We applied a sepia looking colour to the narrative shots and added a vignette to them. This was done in order to make it clear to the audience that all of the shots with this look were part of the narrative and were flashbacks to the past.



Due to the lack of lighting in this shot, there was a lot of grain present. For this, we exported the shot to after effects in order to remove the grain.




Club


The changes made to the club shots were very minimal, since we worked hard to get the exact kind of lighting that would be found in a club, and wanted to keep this effect. We did, however give them a more purple colour.


Concept

Dance



On this shot we removed the colour and made the shots black and white in order to remove the identity from the dancer but still remain as a personality. For this reason we kept some of her features in the shot.




Back


Again, here we decided to remove the identity of the character by making the shot a greyscale colour.



Friday 19 December 2014

Album Digipak Development


Website Development

After the base of out website had been completed we had to think about the functions of an artists website. These fucntions are to encourage purchasing of music, merchandise and concert tickets as well as interacting with the artist and the website through social media and other methods.



Thursday 18 December 2014

Shoot day: 24/11/14

This was our final shoot day and we were happy with our progress. We knew that we would be able to complete what needed to be done before the end of the day.

Promo Shots

We completed the rest of our promo shots in a similar manner to the ones on the 19th November, this time with even more costumes and some changes to hair and makeup.

Narrative Reshoot

Now came the time for the final scene of our project: a reshoot of our club argument. This shot caused some issues for the group. From the start of the project we decided that we did not want Roza to react to any of her boyfriend's actions in an aggressive and "soap opera" type manner. Instead we wanted her to be more subdued. However, feedback that we received suggested that, firstly it was not clear enough that this was the huge argument that it was meant to be due to the short lengths of the shots and, secondly, it did not reflect the build up of anger in the relationship throughout the video.


For the reasons explained above we decided, whilst being quite skeptical about the idea, that, following the argument in the club, Roza would slap her boyfriend. Despite this not being a very fun shot for me, who had to receive these slaps on a number of takes, we found that the shots were much better as they showed a more real reaction and a full sense of the argument.

Shoot day: 22/11/14

Again, since we were coming to the end of shooting we used this shoot to tie up loose ends and focus on getting footage reshot.

Performance


We had one more performance shot remaining, the more aggressive one of Roza lipsyncing whilst holding, playing with, and throwing roses onto the ground. The contrast of the harsh black, bright blue and bright red made for a very nice looking shot. Also, the aggression shown by Yssy here really contrasted with the other more subdued shots.

We were all happy with these shots fairly quickly, and we even captured some filler shots without the lipsync to include in the video. This was possible due to the emotion shown by Yssy even without singing.

Performance Reshoots

Next we reshot the fire projection performance shots with the improved Canon 5D. The difference was immediately visible as the colours of the fire were much brighter and more vibrant and Yssy did not look at all drowned out. We also used a dolly this time, to keep the movement smooth.



These factors all made huge improvements and Josh, Matt and I directed Yssy and took turns recording, meaning that we had a variety of camera movements since we all had different ideas.


One issue faced was that we could not place the camera in front of the projector as it would obviously block off the image so we had to ensure that when we were moving the camera we remained behind the projector. Also, when recording the close ups we had to find the closest possible position, above the projector, to be able to record.

These new shots added a sense of life to the previously dull shots and the whole group were very happy with them.

Shoot day: 19/11/14

Another very short shoot day; this one was used mainly for promo shots; something that had been neglected up to this point.

Performance

Before we began taking promo shot we shot what was arguably our most important performance shot, since this would be the one that we would keep returning to throughout. For this reason it had to be perfect.



This was our wet look close up. Josh, Matt and I began getting the lighting and camera set up while Yssy got ready for the shoot. For this she had to apply a wet look to her makeup, which was hard to do without making he face look greasy or have too much makeup on. In addition to this her hair needed to look wet, so we constantly had to spray her hair with water in between takes to keep this look consistent.



We also used a large monitor to review the shot after every take so that we could notice any imperfections or mistakes and amend them in the following take. Being our main shot, it was vital that everything was perfect.







Promo Shots

Once we were happy with the footage for the water close up, we moved on to promo shots for the website and album cover. We spent the rest of the afternoon on this. Josh naturally found himself very comfortable behind the camera and took the majority of the photos. Matt and I were mostly in charge of lighting and I also helped Josh with some directions for Yssy as well as costume. I also spent some time taking photos.

Shoot day: 11/11/14

In terms of organisation this was our hardest shoot day since we had so many external actors and a dancer coming in for the scenes. For this reason, all of our shots took place after school hours so that people were available for the shots we needed them for. 

Narrative

This shoot day started with the club scenes. Josh and I arrived early as we had no lessons and began setting up the lights and props for the club scene so it would be ready as soon as everyone arrived.

Once everyone had arrived and hair and makeup was done we began shooting some miscellaneous club scenes of Roza and her boyfriend (Yssy and me) enjoying themselves as well as other people in the club dancing too.


Following this we shot our club argument scene where one of our actors, Esma, walked past the boyfriend in the club and his eyes followed here, sparking a reaction from Roza.


We agreed that the footage was good, however upon reviewing it after the shoot day we found that there were too many gaps in the background of the shot making the scene look empty. We also found that we needed a much more aggressive reaction from Roza, such as a slap, so that the audience could pick up on her anger in the short clips. This footage would be reshot on another day.

Concept

Following our club scenes we let everyone go and were joined by a professional dancer and actor, Tasha; who would be used for our silhouette dance shots. These shots were very simple for us as we sent Tasha the song 2 weeks in advance so she was able to choreograph a dance for it.

However, after a couple of takes I found that Tasha's dancing could be a bit more fluid as to fit better with the mood of the music during the slower parts. We communicated this to Tasha and we was able to, almost instantly, change her dance style and produce some great moves that worked perfectly with the song and video.

Once we were all happy with the dance shots we moved on to the drumming shots. Here we laid cling film into a drum kit and poured water onto it. Matt then played the drums and as he hit them water splashed up creating some great shots, especially the detailed close ups.

This shot was followed by our other shot involving a lot of water, for practicality reasons. This was Roza's hair flick. In this shot Yssy submerged her hair in water out of shot and then lifted her hair up and flicked it back as water shot off into the turret light at the back of the shot. This was one of our most stunning shots due to the lighting and the way the water fell.

Shoot day: 10/11/14

This was one of our shorter shoot days so we decided to get some of our shorter concept shots completed.

We started with the ice smash where Yssy would smash a block of ice with a rose inside. For this shot we set up three different cameras to capture the footage because we could only break the ice once and we wanted a choice of shots.

 
I felt that this shot looked very nice due to the vibrant colours and the clarity of the rose inside the ice. However, the ice didnt shatter the way we wanted it to once it was smashed.

Following this shot was the montage of a collection of words written on Matt's back. We planned a number of emotive words that we would write. For this process, I wrote a word on his back and then we recorded him for a couple of seconds. I then wrote the next word and this process continued, with Matt posing in various positions as the words built up.


The build up of the words and aggression in Matt's poses made for a very powerful and artistic shot. Also the change in mood of the words throughout the process works very well with the mood of the music video.

Shoot day: 3/11/14

This was our first shoot day in the studio and for this reason we were very ambitious with what we planned to get done. The focus of our shoot on this day was performance shots.

We began with our silhouette performance shots where Roza interacts with a shadow behind a sheet. Josh played this shadow and did a great job. It took us a while to get this shot set up as we had to first set up the sheet that Josh would stand behind and then get the lighting set up perfectly so that Yssy's features were clearly visible whilst not drowning out the shadow. This was done using turret lights from behind to cast a shadow and studio lights from the side to light Yssy.




These shots came out very well. The interaction between Roza and the shadow, as well as the contrast created by the dark silhouette were really effective. Despite these shots not being the brightest and most energetic shots taken, they were very artistic and powerful in this manner.



This was followed by our fire projection performance shots. While Matt and Yssy were in their lessons, Josh and I got this shot set up with the projector and camera in the correct positions. This shot was very different from the previous, subdued shot due to its energetic and, almost playful nature.




When shooting this, Josh and I both had a go at filming. We did, however, encounter some problems here. With nothing to stabilise the camera whilst moving, the footage became shaky and unclear. 


In addition to this, our choice in camera affected the shots. The Canon Legria HFG30 was unable to pick up the vibrant reds, oranges and yellows in the fire, making for a very dull and not at all aesthetically pleasing shot.

For these reasons, we decided to reshoot at a later date, using a dolly to stabilise the camera while moving and a Canon 5D that would be able to pick up the colours much more effectively.

Following these shots we were out of time and had to leave the studio. As a group we knew we had been too ambitious with the amount of footage we felt we could get through and underestimated how long it would take. We did, however, learn from this and amend our shoot schedules for our following shoots.

Shoot day: 29/10/14

On our second shoot day we captured the remainder of our narrative shots (bar the club scenes that required the use of the studio). We also shot one of our main concept shots, the fire poi, done. These shots were all taken at my house as we thought it would be ideal for the narrative of a young couple living together.

Narrative

Since I was acting in the narrative shots I had little ability to direct so Josh and Matt took this responsibility. However, I was able to alter framing and lighting of the shots while my group member stood in for me so I could see how it looked.




We began with the cooking shots. We did these in the morning so we were able to use the natural light which shone through the glass roof above us. This light was aided by our lighting kit. Also since minimal makeup was worn in these shots we decided it would be easier to start with them then apply makeup for the shots later on as opposed to having to remove it.



This was followed by shots taken in the bedroom. We had two shots here, both with similar setups. We used camera angles and costume here to create a distinct difference between the two scenes. This would ensure that the audience would not be confused and get the two mixed up as they watch the short and quick shots. The two shots taken her were both arguments over very different situations. I am happy with these shots as they were both very convincing and the camera movement in the second argument worked well with the high intensity.



Our last narrative shot of the day was the climactic argument at the end of the video where the boyfriend storms out of the house following a very heated argument, leaving Roza behind. The actors in this shot moved down the stairs, into the hall, then out of the front door in my case.


I am happy with the shots captured on this day as they really reflected the dynamic of the relationship, as well as the way it changes for the worse through the video. Also, i feel that the chemistry displayed between the actors created the feel of a very natural and real relationship.

Concept

Following our narrative shots we moved onto the fire poi shots, one of our main concept shots. We did this at the end of the day in my garden as we required darkness to highlight the flames. For this shot we used someone we knew an expert in the art. While we were shooting the final narrative shots, Matt picked her up so that we could start straight away.




For this shot to work we used a portable speaker and played the song out of here so that Olivia (who did the fire poi) was able to hear it and keep her movements in time with the music. 

This scene carried the greatest health risk of all of our shots for obvious reasons. For this reason we ensured we had a powerful hose and a bucket full of water nearby at all times.

Olivia was excellent and grasped the mood of the music well and adjusted her moves accordingly. Due to this, as well as the size of my garden and the high bushes and trees on the edges, this shot looked very professional.

We also shot our time lapse during this day. In between shots, Josh and I set up a GoPro to capture it. We got our timing perfect to capture the sun set as this period of the day would show the greatest change in the shortest time.


Shoot day: 28/10/14

On our first shoot day we travelled to central London to shoot some narrative featuring Roza and her boyfriend (played by me). We also used this day to shoot one of our performance shots and some conceptual shots.







Narrative

During this shoot we captured a number of scenarios of the couple during the 'good' period of their relationship while it was going well. These shots allowed us to establish Roza's natural relationship with her boyfriend.

I am happy with these shots as they established the relationship well as well as adding to Roza's London identity.

Performance

We also used this shoot day to shoot one of Roza's performance shots. This was a shot of Roza singing with a lit up London Eye in the background. When framing this shot I ensured that our artist was the main subject of the shot without blocking out the amazing background. The bright lights contrasted with the dark sky made for a visually stunning scene. 

However some problems were encountered with this shot. Firstly, with the huge number of people on the bridge while we were shooting, it was near impossible to find the perfect positioning of the camera and artist. We also could not avoid pedestrians walking across the camera, in front of Roza. This meant that we constantly had to break up our shots and start again.

In addition to these practical problems we also faced major technical difficulties. Due to the low levels of light in the background, the camera was unable to pick up any of the shots without them being very grainy. Even after we used Adobe After Effects to increase the quality it was still nowhere near as good as the rest of our shots and looked out of place in the video.

Concept

We also shot concept shots in London, again to establish Roza's London identity. I planned to have some sort of time lapse on Oxford street, one of London's busiest locations. As a group we shot a number of different time lapses with a distant Roza staring into the camera with pedestrians and traffic flowing behind her.

The presence of London buses and black cabs really expressed the fact that Roza was a British artist however there were some problems with the shots we took. A lot of people looked blatantly into the camera when passing, some even stopping in front of it. This reduced the authenticity of the shot and meant it would be hard to find a segment that could work effectively in the video.