Completing My Digipak - Inside Cover

Stage One - I first decided to choose another image of my artist from the photographs that I had taken, and choose the one that I think would look better in this part of my digipak. Once I was happy, I opened it up using Brigde, and then used the lasso tool to cut out the background, and then started to erase the edges again after feathering the edges.

Stage Two - I then changed the image of my artist into black and white to match the cover.

Stage Three -  I then went on "browse with bridge" and selected an image of a location to go on the other side. 

Stage Four - I then put the same background on the inside cover that I have on the outside of the cover so it all runs through together. I then put the picture of the location on one side of the cover.

Stage Five - I then had to decide where the picture of my artist should go. I decided that the picture worked best on the location image, and decided to have text on the other side. I then changed the texture of the image on the right to make it look better.

Uploading Some Footage

Today I uploaded the start of my filming onto Quicktime. I have found that I have about twenty minutes of footage that I can easily start editing while I film more of my footage. I have the lip syncing, shots of different photographs, as well as my artist looking at photographs in an album which I plan to have at the start of my video. I also have shots of the couple having dinner together, and lying together and talking, which will act as some of my flashback elements in my music video. After looking at the footage on the screen I feel pleased with what I have filmed so far and plan to film more in the next week.

Creating My CD Digipak - Outside Cover

Today I began to create my final CD digipak using the photographs that I had taken yesterday. I'm going to take screenshots throughout to show my progress. I changed some of my idea, and decided to have a picture of Liam on the back of the outside cover next to my lyrics as I thought it would look better.


Stage One - I selected a picture that I thought would look good on the back, and then used the lasso tool to cut out the background and the eraser tool to rub out any rough edges. I also used a soft paintbrush around the edges to make it slightly blurry, and to also remove any jagged edges to give it a smoother effect to make it look more proffessional.

Stage Two - After I had successfully removed the background and made the edges neat, I then positioned the image where I wanted it on the screen, and converted it into black and white, as I thought that the picture looked better in black and white, but also because I think it will fit into my finished digipak more.

Stage Three - Once I was happy with this, I began to work on the front cover. I chose a microphone that I wanted from my photographs, and again used the lasso tool to remove the background. 

Stage Four - I then changed the position of the picture so I could decide at what angle it looks best. I  then moved on to again remove the rough edges and make it look neat once I was happy with the position of the picture. 

Stage Five - Once I was happy with the microphone, I started to add the text on the back cover for the track listings. 

Stage Six - Once I had completed writing the text, I added the barcode on the right side of the digipak, using Bridge.

Stage Seven - I then added the production label for The Script, 'Sony Music'

Stage Eight - I decided to change the writing on the track listings to dark blue, to add some colour into my digipak. 

Stage Nine - I then added my album name and and artists name onto the front cover of my digipak. I selected text effects and "wave" to make the text look more interesting. I decided on two colours, black and blue for the text. 

Stage Ten - However, after looking at this when I had finished, I felt that I needed to add something else to it, so I decided to add a background to my digipak. I experimented with a couple of colours on the background:

Stage Eleven - I then decided on a beige colour as I thought this looked better, and relates to their genre of indie rock. I then had to remove any rough edges that are shown around my images after I had placed the background into my digipak. 

Stage Twelve - Lastly I had to insert small print at the bottom of my back cover. I done this from looking at other album covers, and then added in my own. I used text size 4.5 to make the writing appear really small like it would on another album cover. I had to zoom in on this part so I could ensure that the writing was correct. 

I have now finished the outside of my digipak cover and will complete some audience feedback and post it too my blog. 

Generating New Ideas

Instead of having a picture of the microphone stand at the back of my CD Digipak, I have decided to have an image of my artist, as I think this will look better. On the inside, I plan to have the text "when a heart breaks no it don't break even.." so it relates to the song, on the side with the image of my artist. I will do this so it relates to my chosen song, but not the whole lyrics of my particular song, as my digipak is designed for the album rather than just the single track. This will also add more to my design so it doesn't look plain, but so it looks simple and effective. I'm going to have the image of the park behind the CD, but i'm going to experiment with keeping in in colour, but also having it in black and white when I do the real thing, so I can see what goes better with my final design and the changes that I have made.

Digipak Photographs

In my free period today I took some pictures of a microphone from different angles, as well as the microphone's stand, to go out the outside cover of my digipak. I also took some pictures of Liam to go on the inside cover, for my artist The Script. I tried to get shadows in my pictures so it's easier to re-create my first design, so I took the pictures in a spot with good lighting. I also tried to ensure that there is not too much in the background of the pictures so it's easier for me to edit in Photoshop. Now that I have these pictures I can begin to create my final digipak using the images that I have taken. I also have some separate photographs of locations that I have posted before which will go in the inside cover of my digipak. Below are the pictures I took:

Coursework Deadlines

Term 3 ( By January 4th 2012)

Research and Planning Completed and evidenced on your blog for main task and ancillary tasks- assessment and feedback 

Filming MOSTLY completed

Track downloaded and imported to FCE

Editing of main task begins using FCE or FCP

Editing of ancillary tasks begins using Photoshop Elements

Term 4 (By February 16th 2012)

Editing completed during this term if not before

Term 5 (By 16th April 2012)
Main task and ancillary tasks completed by April 16th 2012

Media Studies Coursework Screening takes place - audience feedback received
Evaluation completed and presented

Exam preparation for Section A : Theoretical Evaluation of Production

Planning Digipak Photographs

I'm planning to take some photographs in my free periods today or monday that I will use on my CD Digipak. I am planning to base my digipak on the rough design I have planned below. I plan to get a wide range of shots of the microphone, some from a mid shot, some close up like my design and some from below and above. I will also get a range of different angles that I can play around with when it comes to using them on my final digipak cover. I also plan to shine a light onto one of the pictures, so I can also have different effects on the image so I have a number of different ones to choose from, based on which one I think looks more effective. I will also have one of the microphone with part of the wire trailing behind, rather than on the stand, and have a separate one of the stand.
I have also played around with the idea that I will get a long shot of the image with a trailing wire, so the wire can run through the front of the digipak and run through the back. I liked this idea because I think that it will look effective, but it will depend if I can get a long enough shot of them both. If not I could take a separate shot of the microphone's wire and edit it to look like one photograph in Photoshop elements.
I need to have enough space on the table to get shots like long shots, and without too much in the background so it's easier to edit.