Editing: Creating/Planning the Digipak

To create the digipak I am going to use the website - PicMonkey & Plixr they are both sites that is much like Photoshop. I am going to use this as I am already familiar with it having used it many times before. 

Click here to Plixr

Click here to see Picmonkey

I began editing by adding the chosen image into Plixr and then started to look into what font would be most suitable -

Update: Since I began editing my Digipak photos on Plixr I came to realise that I couldn't import a template and work on that so I am now going to use Photoshop. 

This is the template I am going to use, which I found, here. Although this is a layout for all 4 sides - indicating that I would be creating all of the digipak I am only creating the front and back. If I were to do it all, on the inside I would potentially have a panoramic photo of of on the shots from the video - to link them together even more so. As I am not creating the inside I need not to worry about that.

This is the kind of digipak I am going for.

To get a visual of what the Digipak will be like I printed out the plain template and made a quick mock one...

Research & Planning: Final Camera Shot, Angle & Type

I have created a shot by shot list as a presentation to show what camera shots/angles I ended up using...

Final Shot by Shot List Media from Sophie Mace on Vimeo.

Editing: Final Feedback

Now that I have made the improvements suggested from my last feedback group, click here to see the post where I made the improvements.

I have now got the final version:

Beach Baby - Bon Iver Final from Sophie Mace on Vimeo.

Before deciding it would be my final copy of the music video I got some more feedback through getting people of the appropriate target audience to watch it and answer a survey -

Overall I got 7 different people to watch it and give feedback -

Why I made the decision of making it my final draft is that they all answered that the video was of a high standard, that the transitions are both suitable and work well, the narrative is easy to understand and that there are no more improvements to make to the video.
For Q6 where I asked if there were 'Any other comments...' this is the feedback I received -

To list the comments I received they were -
- Good timing, nice scenery & shots/angles kept interested
- Lighting & filter good
- Mise-en-scene/location good, camera shots and cinematography good
- Looks very professional, love the title at the beginning & doesn't distract from the scenery shot & fits with indie conventions
Another comment that I received was on Q3 and it suggested that although the narrative is clear I could add a clip of her looking at a photo to reinforce it. I thought about it but have decided not too as 6 out of the 7 said it was fine without.

To get another perspective for feedback and to reach a wider audience I went to my Tumblr which has over 4,600 followers

I asked them to watch it & let me know any feedback they have. Tumblr is useful as the predominant users of it are the target audience for my piece.

Editing: Feedback Improvements

To see the post on feedback I received on my first focus group click here.
Improvements
Car key shot had a jolt and a little long - I am going to trim it down to shorten it and also get rid of the jolt

To fix the two problems I firstly thought that as I had filmed various different shots, to try another and see if it worked best. It didn't therefore I have stuck to the original one. I have shortened it and trimmed it so now the jolt should be gone.

Focus a little too much on lake and a little static - this is intended as part of convention but could try to add some more transitions to really signify lapsing of time (overlaps, fades etc)

Firstly, between the clip of her walking to the lake to her standing looking out at it I decided to add the transition 'Cross Dissolve' to make it more flowing and really show the time lapse.

After that I then started playing around adding different filters/changing the time they went on for in the lake scene, after trying out a lot of different combinations I decided that this would be the best one - 

I added the transitions 'Cross Blur' to when the clips start focusing on the necklace more. I chose to do this as it then made it to flow more freely like her mind does as she moves on. When it's slightly disjointed with the other lake shots it represents the range of emotions she's going through. 

 I feel this has now improved my video as it's not static and also adds depth to the lake scene making it not feel as long.

Nicely changes to the beat of song but first few shots maybe timed better - I am going to attempt to time them better as I need to trim clips and add transitions

I've worked on trying to time it better and I personally think that it is now better, but I will question it in my next feedback group to get another opinion on it.

Unaware what it is at the start - I am going to look into adding one 

I firstly started by trying out this title, I went for a simple one. This didn't work well with the video so I decided to try this one,

Although I prefer this one and it goes well with the text I have at the end it doesn't look quite right as I can't reposition it. I'm also concerned having it isn't conventional to Bon Iver and could distract the audience from the cinematography which the first few shots are.

Therefore, I have decided not to add a title. Also as when it is watched people will go looking for it otherwise by the title it'll have on YouTube and Vimeo where I will distribute it they'll be aware what it is and who it is.

Now that I have completed the improvements I got from my first feedback I will go ahead and get another set of feedback to see if there are any more improvements to be made before having the final cut.

Editing: Feedback - Music Video

I have recently done a focus group about my music video and what to improve on. I added the first cut to Vimeo to show them -

Beach Baby - Bon Iver - First Cut from Sophie Mace on Vimeo.

The questions I asked:

1. Do you see an obvious jolts in the clips?
2. Does the filter/lighting work well for the genre which is indie folk and for the overall theme of the video?
3. Although the clips are conventionally meant to be drawn out are there any that are too long?
4. Is there any other improvements/comments?

The feedback I got can be seen here -

Beach Baby - Bon Iver Feedback 1 from Sophie Mace on Vimeo.

The main comments I received were -

• Car key shot had a jolt and a little long - I am going to trim it down to shorten it and also get rid of the jolt
• The filter/lighting does work well
• Focus a little too much on lake and a little static - this is intended as part of convention but could try to add some more transitions to really signify lapsing of time (overlaps, fades etc)
• Car journey worked well/filmed nicely
• Location/Cinematography good
• Nicely changes to the beat of song but first few shots maybe timed better - I am going to attempt to time them better as I need to trim clips and add transitions
• Unaware what it is at the start - I am going to look into adding one 
• Story/context fitted well with song/video 

Editing: More Transitions

I started to play around with some more transitions. I added the 'ripple' effect to highlight the ripples in the water which can be seen in the clips.

I decided that this didn't look right as it was too fast paced for the video, and as I couldn't figure out how to slow down the transition I did some research on it 

Although this taught me how to do it, I tried it out on the 'Ripple' effect and it still didn't look quite right. Therefore, I decided that it would be best to leave it out, I also asked some peers on what they thought and they agreed it didn't sit well. Another problem I faced with it was where it would be best placed. 

From learning about making transitions longer I was able to improve the transitions I already have

Therefore I have made all of the 'fade to black' transitions I have 2 seconds long instead of 1 second. I think this improves them and makes them more suitable to the slow style of the video.

Another transition I added was another 'Fade to Black'

I also decided that I didn't want this to be in the video as well as like the ripple it didn't quite sit well enough where I wanted it to be.

Therefore, for now unless I get any feedback referring to the transitions, I am done with transitions.

Editing: Trimming Clips

I had to start trimming down clips in order to remove 'jumpy' parts at the end of a couple of clips.

The first clip I had to trim was the first clip of the video - the camera seemed to be knocked during filming the clip therefore I had to split the clip on both sides of the knock and then delete it to then put the clips back together side by side for it to be smooth throughout.

The next clip I had a problem with was later in the video, at the end when I must of been ending the clip the camera moved a little so I just had to trim the end.

Now all the clips run smoothly without any jolts.