Amy’s Weblog

FINAL PRODUCT – TITLE SEQUENCE

FINAL PRODUCT – DVD COVER

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TEXT EXPERIMENTS

During the editing process of our video, it was obvious that we would need to add a title to the TV series to introduce it. We knew that we wanted the title to feature in the last frame of the film so that it would stick in people’s heads.
We had an issue with selecting a colour for the title to be, however. We finally drew it down to two colours.

Our first choice was a very pale, minty green colour. We chose the colour from the very pale green at the top the characters shirt. We thought this colour worked really well because it stood out nicely from the background and it blended well within the colours in the rest of the shot. What we didn’t like about this colour was that it wasn’t very girly and didn’t really fit with the girly theme we were trying to keep throughout the production process.

The second colour we chose was the bright pink colour above. There weren’t any negatives with this colour as it stood out well from the background and didn’t appear to be sinking in the wall behind. It also fitted really well with the girly theme we were trying to keep throughout.

We decided on the pink colour by asking other people in the class to make a vote, and although the green title did recieve some votes because it fitted well, he majority went with the pink because it fitted with the girly theme.

RADIO ADVERT.

Below shows the full idea and production behind our radio advert.

Basic Idea
For our radio advert, we wanted to have a fun, happy feel to the sequence. We knew that we wanted to feature some of the show’s theme music at both the start and the end of advert. We wanted female voices on the advert, one as a narrator and one acting as Isabella. We wanted to whole advert to be upbeat and girly.
We decided to feature two female voices speaking in turn about a magazine (which we didn’t actually create) that was being released in compliment to the TV series and the DVD release.

Radio Script – ‘Isabella Ryan’ Magazine Advert

LIGHTER FLUID (THEME MUSIC) PLAYS – 2 seconds – fade to quieter

VOICEOVER: THIS WEEK. NEW. ISABELLA RYAN. YOU’VE SEEN THE SHOW. YOU’VE BROUGHT THE DVD. AND NOW. YOU’LL             READ THE MAGAZINE.

ISABELLA: JOIN ME, IN MY WEEKLY MAGAZINE WITH FREE GIFTS AND BEHIND THE SCENES GOSSIP FROM THE SHOW.
BUY ‘ISABELLA RYAN’S LIFE’ THIS FRIDAY AND GET YOUR FREE ISABELLA RYAN MAKE-UP KIT AND HEADBAND          SO YOU CAN BE JUST LIKE ME!

VOICEOVER: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD NEWSAGENT AND SUPERMARKETS. STARTING PRICE £2.99. WEEKLY FROM JANUARY 29TH.

ISABELLA: AND DON’T FORGET TO CATCH ME ON THE KTV AT 4.30PM EVERY WEEKDAY. SEE YOU SOON!

(LAST 5 SECONDS OF LIGHTER FLUID PLAYS)

Recording
The recording process went really well and we were able to knock the advert out in one filming without the need to re-record. We didn’t have to edit too much either, because the whole recording fitted together quite smoothly. The main issue we overcame when editing our advert was making the music fit and ensuring that it wasn’t too loud. We had to fade the music out slightly at the start and end of the advert so that the speech could be heard clearly. We wanted to feature the theme music because it meant that people could find association between the TV series and the radio advert without hearing what the product was.

DILEMMA + IDEA CHANGE.

DILEMMA
We were trying to edit our footage together to try and come up with a decent sequence today (21.01.10) but it really wasn’t any good. All of our footage was really poor and we realised we didn’t have enough good footage to work with and have since decided that our only option is to re-shoot. We have also had to slightly change our idea as the actors we were working with were no longer available and they weren’t very confident in front of the camera.

IDEA CHANGE
We have decided to change the idea of our opening sequence due to several problems we’ve experienced during the process. After going back to our research, we’ve decided now that our title sequence is going to feature one actress and the title sequence will follow her daily journey and activities. We are going to use the same kind of idea as before with a happy, girly theme as it will allow us to use some of the things we have already worked on, including the music that we’ve found and want to use for our sequence and the work we’ve already done into the DVD cover. I plan to only alter the DVD cover by adding an image of the new actor and making a title change, as the current title would not fit with the new theme.

DVD Cover.

Below are several screen shots showing the development of the cover also showing changes that were made.
Firstly, I created the sparkly background by taking an image and copying and pasting it until the whole of the background was filled. I thought about changing the colour to a slightly darker pink but it proved too difficult to try and work around the sparkles. We decided together that the sparkly background created the theme and idea we wanted to put across with our DVD.

After adding the background, I started experimenting with different fonts that I found on copyright free font website www.dafont.com. We found a font that we felt was suitable.

We later decided that the font didn’t actually fit too well with the theme of children, and the cursive style seemed a bit too complex for a children’s DVD cover. I tried adjusting the placement of the title to make it look a bit better but I couldn’t find a way for it to look suitable and like it actually fitted the cover. We re-visited the same website and tried to find a font style suited more to the theme of children and attempted to find a font that children might understand better and one that would be easier for them to relate to (shown in shot below).

After selecting the font together that we wanted to use and placing it in the place we wanted it on the background, it was time to add in an image. I found an image on www.google.co.uk for my mock up, but obviously for the real one, an original image will be used. I added the photo in the bottom left hand corner of the cover leaving me enough space to include possibly another image, a logo or maybe some more text. I think the placing of the image works really well here.

Having the large dominating image on the front cover is good and helpful to the younger audience that we are planning to target. It’s good for the audience because they can immediately relate to the cover as, if they are planning to buy the DVD they should recognize the main characters. The image also takes up some of the plain space making the cover look more professional and realistic. After adding the image we felt it would be appropriate to add in some information about some of the main features of the DVD itself. We wanted to add some dividers to the cover to separate out the few different sections that there’s going to be. I took another image of sparkles but this time purple and made them into thin lines to use as dividers but so they also followed the sparkly, girly theme that we had already agreed on.

I added one divider right underneath the title and then one slightly lower. We wanted to frame the DVD details around the dividers, maybe with the text either resting on the top or the bottom of the divider lines, or maybe both. I decided when adding the information I would do so in a different font so it didn’t look too similar to the title and doesn’t take away from the main focus of the title. The size would also have to be smaller otherwise the title wouldn’t stand out from the rest of the cover like it is supposed to.

I added a black outline to the text and filled the inside of the letters with the same purple colour as the shows title. I carefully placed them so they were touching each of the dividing lines so that they didn’t seem out of place and appear to just be thrown in anywhere. At this stage the cover seems a bit bare, and we thought maybe a logo could be added or maybe some smaller images to fill out the cover a bit more and make it not seem so plain and average.

We decided to add some hearts in the bottom right hand corner of the cover as a logo so the cover didn’t look empty. We also felt that the hearts connected well with the girly theme.

Above is the final idea for our DVD cover and the idea that we’re going to use for our mock up. This is the best of our ideas because it has a really girly feel to it assisted by the large image, the hearts logo and the colours used. The sparkly pink background colour and the sparkly purple dividers were inspired by other DVD covers for Children’s TV dramas that I have researched. The sparkly idea really gives the whole cover a really girly feel, something we were really planning to achieve with this cover idea.

IDEA CHANGE
Since we had to change our idea, it means we have to make some edits to the DVD cover idea. Because we still want to stick to the girly, happy theme I thought it would be a good idea to keep the cover much the same, just changing the things that no longer apply to our new idea, including the title and the image (which will now only feature one girl, and not three).

I added an image of a single girl to the DVD cover to show that the focus of the series is now just the one girl. It is important that the model is smiling and the photo looks posed and happy to compliment the positive, girly, happy theme of the DVD. Using a large image allows the audience to associate the DVD with a popular character therefore encouraging them to purchase the DVD. We plan to have our model wearing a girly outfit maybe in purple and pink colours to fit theme of that of the DVD cover.

I decided to make the image of the character bigger to take up more space at the bottom of the cover because previously the bottom half of the cover looked a bit empty, and I had no idea what to put there. Although the image is now a lot bigger at the bottom, there is still quite a large amount of empty space at the bottom so there is space for me to add a logo a bit later on if I decide that it is necessary and will compliment the cover. By including a logo, it will also give the audience a connection between the TV series and the DVD series release.

Where the font was quite childish on the previous cover, we wanted to make the font this time around a bit more sophisticated as we were now only focussing on one character and no longer the idea of a group of best friends. I went back onto copyright free website http://www.dafont.com to try and find another font. We decided on a curly font that added to the girly theme and I decided to make it purple to again add to the basic theme if girly-ness. Once we had picked the font we liked, we together decided on a name for our main character, ‘Isabella Ryan’. To accommodate for our new title, it meant that I had to make the image slightly smaller again and I also had to move the dividers and the DVD content information down a bit.

For a logo / picture in the corner to add something to the blank space, we decided to use two of the hearts we had on the previous cover. We also added in another heart that had a little curl it to add a bit of difference to the cover.
After I had made a full mock up of the front of the DVD cover, I then had to make the back cover. I decided that the back cover would need a photo of our character and some blurb information about the DVD itself. To make the DVD look realistic and like it fits in with other DVD’s on the shelf, I also needed to follow the conventions by adding information about the DVD running time, the languages available and the DVD quality.

After doubling the dimensions of the DVD cover to create the front and back cover, I added the background colour to match the colour behind the sparkles on the front cover. I then copied the font from the front cover and wrote the words Isabella Ryan to title up the back of the cover. I added a small heart to the side of it to follow the continuity from the front cover, and I also added the DVD logo to the spine of the cover to follow DVD cover conventions.

Next I added a table to the bottom of the cover that included all the DVD information and running times. We also edited our own TV Channel logo into the table to make it look more legitimate. After placing it in, I added another.

FINAL COVER DEVELOPMENT

After I had made the full mock up of the cover, all I really had to do was add our photos of ‘Isabella Ryan’ onto the cover.

I replaced the front cover image with a medium close up of our character. I placed the image behind the heart logo and the text so that the image is dominant but the text is also important. On the back cover I added a full length photo of our character posing and connecting with the camera. This photo really fitted well with the happy theme of the DVD and the pose reflected the happy, girly idea.

FINAL COPY OF COVER.

03.12.2009 – FILMING DAY!!!

Pre-filming note
Today we are finally going to film our title sequence. We need to collect our equipment that includes a camera and tripod because we want or camera movement to be steady. We’re leaving to set up the location at about 12 ready for our girls to arrive at 3pm. We now only have three girls to film for our sequence because another one of our girls dropped out, and it was almost essential that we filmed this week. After filming, we will be taking still-shots of our actresses for our DVD front cover, which we have already posted our mock-ups for (see separate post).

Post-filming note
The actual filming itself went quite well but during the setting up we had a few minor set backs, lighting being just one of the problems.
Our lighting caused us a problem during the filming because we kept getting shadows when we trying to film our girls in action. Becuse of the natural light source obviously getting darker as time went on, it created shadows from the artificial light we had set up in the room. The poor lighting, also meant we started filming later, leaving us less time as some of our actors had to leave quite quickly. With the time being cut short, it also meant that we didn’t have time to shoot our stills of our models. This isnt too much of an issue because we can take the stills next week (same time, same location).
All in all, filming went quite well, and the shots that we got arent too bad.

Initial ideas for DVD cover.

The first and main thing we definitely want on out DVD cover is an image of the characters. The front cover also has to include the title in a bold and colourful font. We need the cover to be attractive to our quite young audience, so we plan to use quite a few bold and standing out colours.

Idea One
Our first idea features a large image of the four characters that dominates the whole bottom half of the front cover of the DVD. The photo will not feature a background and we will be placing the character photos onto the cover background. We plan for the background of the cover to be a very pale pink, attracted our highly female audience. The top half of the cover will feature a purple, rough cut out box with the title in the centre. Our house font is going to be a font called Eight Track from the website www.dafont.com. We chose this font because it seems quite young and fun which we’re sure will be attractive to our audience. In the background we’re going to display the same little icons that appear in the background of the shows title sequence.

Idea Two
Our second idea follows quite a similar colour scheme to the first idea, although purple is the dominating colour here. The background will be a pale purple, almost lilac, with a darker purple box in the middle presenting the title of the show in our house font. The box will be outlined with two white lines, making it seem like its glowing. The cover will feature four individual images of each of the girls with a oval shape separating them from the rest of the background in each corner in the cover. In between the top two and bottom two images will be a small purple heart in a black oval, similar to the ones the images of the girls will be in. Around the cover, little different sized purple hearts will be dotted around to fill some of the blank space in the background.

Another unfortunate dilemma

So we planned to film this week, but we’ve experienced another painful dilemma that’s put a pause in our film making process.
One of our girls had to drop out because she couldn’t film on the days we’d already planned, meaning we now only have four girls for the film. Its not too bad in the sense that we’ve lost someone because we were originally only going to have four girls anyway. The only issue is, is that we’re going to have to change our script and our storyboard to accommodate for our loss of an actress.

26.11.09
It sounds an awful lot like we’re just putting off filming, but this week one of our actresses is ill, again creating a huge dent in our filming process. So this week instead we’re going to work on creating some mock up covers for our DVD and hopefully researching a bit more into radio adverts .

DILEMMA!

Here’s the dilemma: Everything was going swimmingly. We sorted our actors, finished our storyboard and we’d even found our music. We THOUGHT we’d found our set. Turns out we don’t.
We’ve just been informed that we’re not allowed to shoot our actors on the college campus because they’re under 16 and they’re not covered by the college insurance. Obviously this poses a bit of a problem for us as this is where we’d planned to shoot and we’d already completed our full story board and script based around it!

So now, we have to scout another location which at the moment isn’t very helpful because we hadn’t prepared for change.
We’re going to look into other locations, but this may been a dramatic change to our script and storyboard.