Logo Update For Our Band - Session 40

Today we thought that we should update our logo so it looks more professional. As a group we thought it was best that we made the typography of the bands name 'Firelight Falcons' the same as it is on our band website and CD pack so it the same throughout are whole product.

Another thing that we changed is the background to a golden colour because we felt that with the bright yellow and red background it looked a bit unprofessional with us doing it on Paint. Therefore, using a more professional software we used Photoshop to make the background gold and then we added in the bands name.

After this we updated the logo on all our social media and YouTube.

Here is how it looks:

Updates And Changes To Website - Session 39

Over time we have been making developments to our band's website. These include:

• We changed the background on the majority of the pages as we felt that there were too many trees which meant it got quite repetitive. Therefore, to make it interesting we included some photos we had taken away from setting of the music video which still had a nature aspect to them.                                                                                                                                                  
•  As a group we thought we should change the font for their band name 'Firelight Falcons' as previously it was quite a bulky font and did not stand out much with it having lower caps other than the start of the words. Therefore, we changed it to 'Marzo' which stands out more as it has a thinner style to the text but puts all the letters as capitals.                                                                                                                                                       
• On the ABOUT page we removed the singular shot of one of the band members and added a group one with a slideshow underneath with a picture of all the members individually. Also, we added another quote from a made up magazine.                                                                               
•   We added 'Account' and 'Help' buttons as we noticed band websites have them in order to buy merchandise but also for obvious help reasons for new comers to the site.                                                                                                                                                                                 
•  We added Spotify and iTunes buttons to the homepage of our website above the album to show the multiple ways people can access music currently, from streaming, buying on an app, as well as ordering a physical copy online through the bands shop.                                                                   
• On our HOME and MUSIC pages we added our final front cover to our album playlist.                           
• We rearranged the SHOP page so it looked more professional, this included changing the set out of some of the merchandise and prices, along with the font of the titles. We also added the album to the shop.                                                                                                                                           
• We added another page called the GALLERY which includes behind the scene shots of the band members.                                                                                                                                        
• For the CONTACTS page we created emails for all the addresses we made up so they actually worked.                                                                                                                                                
• Finally, we added a slideshow on our HOMEPAGE  of snapshots from our music video and on the VIDEOS tab we added our final music video.

Link to website: https://firelightfalcons.wixsite.com/officialwebsite
Here are some screenshots of our website:
                                                     

Updating Pictures For CD Booklet - Session 38

Today we decided that it would be quicker and easier if we asked each band member to take individual mid shot photos of them against a brick wall. The reason we decided to do this is because when it came to editing a brick wall onto each image green screen photo on Photoshop it was taking too long.

Although these photos won't go to waste as we have used them as behind the scene photos on our website, as well as, adding some to our About page to introduce the band. Furthermore, Laura edited accurately a long shot band photo onto a brick wall using Photoshop, which we will be using to the back page of the booklet.

The photos that we took today will need to be colour corrected so that they are darker so it matches the rest of the darker themed package.

Here are some of the photos we took:

Photo-shoot Of Band For CD And Website - Session 37

At the end of last week we decided that we needed to organise a photo shoot of our band as usually an artist/ band show appear on their website and CD's to promote and market themselves. First, we created a group chat on Facebook messenger with ourselves and the band members in to ask when the people in the band were free and to organise when we did it. As a group we decided to do it  Monday and Friday break time.

On the Monday we focused on getting shots of the band for the front and back cover, while on Friday we focused more on the CD booklet and website photos. Also, on Friday to make sure that we got enough photos  I changed the shutter speed so many photos could be taken at a time and Alex wore the shirt that the main girl in our music video finds which shows an intertextual reference to the music video.

Here are some of the photos we took on Monday:

Here are some of the photos we took on Friday:

Updated Draft For Music Video With More Feedback - Session 36

Today we updated our music video again from the feedback we received from our last draft. Here are the changes we made:

• During the part when the photo is in the sink, ripped and thrown away we added fire overlays to make it look more dramatic so it builds up like the music. Also, it is a binary opposite with the water and fire. The water fire can symbolise the upset and the anger the main girl is having as nobody thinks her and the boy should be together .While the water can symbolise their relationship drowning under pressure.
• Fixed the timing as the lip syncing was slightly out of sync and adjusted the timings for the fast cuts.
• Changed the coat shot to footage of the main girl walking past as it was more interesting while the previous shot seemed like it dragged on.
• We slowed down the shot of the holding hands as the insert shot of myself broke the flow a bit.
• On the word 'stop' we cut to black as it fits the natural pause of the song and makes it more dramatic for what is going to happen next in the narrative.
• We corrected some colour correction with the sleepover having more of an orange tint while the narrative side having a blue tint. The clip needing correcting was when the girl got home from finding the boys shirt as the camera adjusted to the lighting, so the footage needed a sharper tint of blue as the footage looked a bit grainy and we wanted to make the colour correction more evident.
• We changed the fade out at the end of the video as it stopped a bit abruptly and we wanted it to be smoother.
• We fixed the shot of myself clenching my hand by cutting it to a correct moment, duplicating it and putting it in reverse, as it looked a bit anti - climatic and did not fit the song. 

We got another friend to watch it to get a fresh view on it, here is some improvements they suggested:

Audience Feedback On Our First Music Video Draft- Session 35

Recently we finished the first draft for our music video so decided to get some feedback. We used my parents and our friend Sophie to tell us what they thought of it so we could improve it.

Here is the first draft:



Here are some things that we did in editing:

• Add fire overlays to the beginning to create a spooky atmosphere.
• Decide on the colour correction for the different narratives. Sleepover = Orange, Main Narrative = Blue.
• Use stop-motion with the lyrics 'It's raining' by taking photos of a drawing each time we changed it a little bit and making them all flow smoothly to one another in editing.
• Use the reverse tool when the tap is drowning the photo of the boy and when the main girl finds his shirt.
• Create a split screen for the lyrics 'People marching to the drums'.
• Use slow motion when the main girl looks up towards the camera when looking up from shirt to create a dramatic effect.
• Use a glitch effect to symbolise the girl breaking down and the problems to come.
• Use white overlays during the breakdown in the instrumental to make it more impactful. 

Here is our audience feedback:

Glitch Effect In Music Video - Session 34

For our music video we decided to use a glitch effect before the instrumental towards the end of the song to symbolise the girl breaking down, but also as the camera began to wobble so it would be more impactful if we added the effect rather than the footage look jerky.

Here is the video we used:




Here are the notes I made:





















Screenshot of end result: