We used Wordpress to document our research and planning. This was a useful site as we were able to display our research as individual posts by tagging ourselves. It also allowed us to embed music videos to show as examples and to create galleries of photos like an online sketchbook. This was very helpful because it displayed our research in a professional way and also it was easy to navigate to find certain posts.

Prezi was also a very helpful tool in our research and planning process as we used it to present out ideas and inspiration. I found it easier to use than powerpoint as it allowed for more space on each slide, which meant more photos could be added and you could embed videos and images from YouTube and the internet without having to save them to your files, which allowed for more efficient work. It was also more interesting to watch and therefore allowed for a more effective presentation and learning experience.

We used a Sony handheld video camera to film our music video, and a tripod. We also used a hot light in the bathroom scenes to light our subject in a professional and effective way.

The tripod was useful for certain still shots, but didn't’t allow for the dreamy flowing effect we wanted in the video and therefore we used handheld techniques to achieve this.

The camera allowed for professional footage, but most of the overall look came from the post-production process as the camera didn't’t have any effect settings, depth of field, ISO, or shutter speed options.

To create the ink shots we set up a large vase and poured ink dye into water. This was a simple, handmade effect and therefore required little digital effect/technology.

This is the same for the paint as this was an authentic effect and therefore required little post-production work like you see in some surreal videos.

We used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit our music video and having used Final Cut Pro before I found Premiere pro more effective to use and easy to create effects on.

To achieve the desired effect of our video the editing process was key and Premiere Pro allowed us to use the techniques we wanted such as the mirror effect for the kaleidoscope effects and the colour corrector options which allowed us to create the filters and super 8 style.

Premiere Pro was also easy to navigate and work with which allowed for efficient post production work.

We also used the reverse speed effect in our video and played around with the opacity levels to create the overlays and cross fades that happen frequently in the video.

The colour correction option was the most helpful as it allowed us to change the coloursand add filters to the video, which meant we could meet the conventions of an indie music video. It was simple to use, like the photoshopeffect, and it was also easy to apply to all of the footage. We used this effect the most in order to get the vivid colours in the video.

Photoshop TechniquesThis was the initial design I came up with for the digipack. I liked the idea of a circle as it was conventional of the indie genre and also the rich colours matched our music video and themes.

I wanted to stick to the theme of nature and therefore used images of flowers and woodland to reflect the video.

But we felt the style and colours of this digipack didn't link with the video very well and reflected a darker more gothic image and therefore we decided to change the colours and images so that it would link in better with the video and star persona of ‘Freyja’.

To create this design I started with an image I took of a woodland area, I then added the image of the stained glass window and used the circle tool to get this effect and then lowered the opacity so that it was see through and looked effective and unique. I then used the text tool to add the artist name and album name.

To create the final design I started off with two images drawn by my friend Mollie Andrews. We then used a scanner to scan the images in and then once they were upload transferred them to photoshop to work on. We changed the colours to match the video and theme and made this consistent throughout. Photoshop was a very helpful and useful technology to have as it allowed us to experiment with different ideas and designs and colours to see which worked best. We used the layering effect and the hue and saturation adjustment layer to achieve the different shade of colours.

Stills from the digipack and advert on photoshop.

We created the magazine advert in the same way to the digipack, taking the same layers and resizing them for an A4 page.