This is my practice at editing a picture using photoshop, i chose to edit a photo of simon neil who is the singer of the band i am creating a music video for i also put an eagle into the background of the picture as it is one of the key lyrics of the song that i am doing.

We started off by copying the image that we wanted by selecting the rest of the picture with the lasso tool, and the magnetic lasso tool, we then clicked inverse to select the image we wanted. We chose feathered the image so that the image would not be as harsh. We copied it into another canvas and zoomed in and removed any traces of the background from the original that remained. We repeated the process with the image inserted in the background and put it into the canvas, selecting send to back.

This picture was my attempt to combine my image into a street like I plan to do for my final digipak cover. However this did not work as the edge of the figure is missing and looks bad like he has been placed into the image.

This is my next attempt at inserting figures into a high-street scene, still using photoshop, but this time I'm using a simpler figure which also shows it's entire body.

Changes in my idea for the film

For the part of my film which talks about eagles, i have decided to replace the original idea with a film of zooming into my actors face and of redkites, i am changing my idea to filimg my actor walking along the street, except i will be filming him from a tall building. This also means that i will have to change the street which my actor is walking along to one closer to a tall building.

For this tall building i plan on using the multi story carpark in kettering town center, this is ideal as it is 6 stories high and overlooks roads upon which it is easy to film.

I am filming from a tall building because i wish to get footage from the point of view of the eagle as in a "birds eye view", i am doing this to link in with the lyrics where it says "to discuss like eagles" as i felt that my original idea for this was too weak and by doing this will improve my video making it more unique and generally improving it.

Research into c.d. digipak

A digipak is a style of CD and DVD packaging. It's made from card or paper with a plastic insert used to hold the CD. The case is harder to break than that of a CD as it is not made out of plastic which is easy to crack however the "teeth" which hold the CD are still easy to break. Digipak usage is increasing as it is generally better for the environment. But also because it is seen as "trendy" and a new thing for bands to do and to be different from other bands. Digipaks are a registered trademark of
              You can buy Digipaks in several different forms such as 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 panel digipaks, though the most  common forms of digipaks are 4 panel digipaks which opens like a book. 6 panel digipaks are also very common as they give a larger area for the album artwork and text information about the band or other people who have helped to produce it.

    The front cover of a digipak is usually the main artwork for the album, this is to make the album recognizable to fans, this will take up the majority if not all of the front cover. The only other bits of information which the front cover will contain are both the albums name and also the name of the band who produced it. The artists name is usually in larger text than the the name of the album as it is likely that a casual consumer of music will not be able to name the album but will be looking for a c.d. by that band.

The spine of a digipak usually includes the artists name and the name of the album. In smaller writing at the bottom will usually be the name of the record company. This writing is usually over some artwork that is carried on from the front page.

 The back of the digipak will usually contain a track listing, on certain digipaks on the track listing there will also be after each track the length of the song. This information also takes place over the top of artwork which is

Wasting light is by foo fighters who are one of the worlds best known rock bands, it's the latest album that they have released and debuted at number 1 in the album charts selling 235000 copies in its first week. It was released in both jewel case and 4 panel digipak form. The album artwork is very distinctive and is easily recognizable straight away as wasting light, this is because the background of the album is plain black, in the middle of the cover are pictures of the bands faces, the faces are done as stencils with each band member being a different colour, areas of the bands members faces that overlap. This creates a very bright and vibrant image, which is a stark contrast from the black background. This album cover was both created to show the contrast between light and dark, but also too make the album stand out in any form of record store such as hmv which it may be displayed in and therefore attract potential customers.  The name of the band and the title of the album are above the artwork, they are in a much lighter colour and a thin text, this is done to not take the attention away from the main picture, which by itself means that the album will be recognized even without the title and bands name.

Portraits by max raptor is the debut album of the midlands punk band, Max Raptor have quickly made a name for themselves through there near constant touring, they have been the support band to acts such as The Stranglers ant The Darkness. They have also played at the large rock and metal download festival and have promoted themselves through these appearances with there energetic live shows.

        The album has presumably been released as a digipak because it is generally cheaper to release a CD as a digipak than it is to release it as a jewel case, and because it was the bands debut album they only had a limited amount of money with which to record and release it, therefore limiting costs by using the digipak. 

         The front of the digipak features a large portrait, the portrait looks like a painting which has been copied onto the cover as you can clearly see the brush strokes. The name of the album is a reflection of the albums title "portraits" which is so called as the album is about how they as a group see Britain and the current climate of the country, the album touches on subjects such as the economy and domestic abuse.. The name of the band and the album are in white letters but there is some smearing of the name, this is done so that it looks like it has been painted over the top of the portrait.

Problems with filming SOLVED

I have discussed my problems i was going to have with producing a smooth backwards movement with my teacher, he has told me that the school has a dolly which will enable me to produce the shots that i need for my footage to look effective and for me to produce a smooth movement. However i may have to try to attach the camera to a bike or something else with large wheels as this would eliminate all the bumps that were in the road.

Evaluating my blog.

This is the sheet from where i was assessed by one of my peers from my class, i had her do this as i knew that she would be more critical of my work than i would have been, as in general people are unwilling to criticize their own work. This means that i will be able to take my peers advice on my blog and be able to improve my blog accordingly.

Titling my posts.

I have been through my previous posts changing the names so that they are easily identifiable and content within my blog is easy to find.

Ancillary task-music magazines

In preparation for creating the front cover of a music magazine i am researching how they commonly look, i have chosen the magazine rock sound.

http://www.rocksound.tv/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Sound

I have chosen rock sound to bethe magazine i look at as it is a magazine which relates to the band i am looking at, they have been theband on the front cover of the magazine 3 times. There 2007 album puzzle was rock sounds album of the year and received nearly all positive reviews from the magazines which reviewed it.

The first album advertised in rock sound is for the band mastodon, because of this and the fact that the advert covers a full a4 page of the magazine it shows how popular the artist is, this is shown by the fact an advert of this nature would cost a huge amount of money. Spending this amount of money also shows that the artist is extremely keen to promote the album which they are advertising, because it is in the album rock sound it shows that they are trying to appeal to a specific audience. This also shows that they are a band who appeal to only these people as they have a specific style of music which in this case is heavy metal, a genre which does not appeal to those who are not a fan of it. At the bottom of the advert is more information about the c.d.  and the special edition, showing what extras the special edition includes, this is an effort to make more people buy the special edition which presumably costs more. Below this is information about both the band and the bands record label.

Another advert within the magazine is for the album "Green Naugahyde" by the album primus. The main colour on the advert is green, this relates to the title of the album in an effort to make it stick in the mind of people who are looking at the advert. The advert also says "First studio album in eleven years released September 12th on CD & Green Double Vinyl" This is trying to promote them as a band which used to have a large fan base but has taken a break from recording. It also features reviews from metal hammer saying "a spectacular return" as this is a positive review from one of theleading magazines of this genre and therefore is a review which the viewers of the advert will respect. At the bottom of the advert there is information about the albums publisher and record label, this is done by both of these companies in an effort to promote themselves further.

This advert uses the bands colours which makes the advert instantly recognizable as promoting this band. The advert fulfills a duel purpose of both advertising the bands new album but it also promotes the bands tour which is being held to play new tracks to the fans and therefore show them what the new album is like encouraging them to buy it. Again, this advert features a review by metal hammer which is a review that fans of this band will instantly appreciate and therefore listen too.