Try your hand at the following two Photoshop Tutorials and post the results to your blog.
http://www.psdvault.com/abstracts/create-sci-fi-style-laser-light-effect-in-photoshop/
http://www.psdvault.com/drawing/create-awesome-abstract-nebula-circle-shape-in-photoshop/
Then look down the following list of additional tutorials and chose at least one more to try out:
http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/web/dark-futuristic-photoshop-effects/
Before attempting any large scale drawings of the main portrait for your cover design it is important to sketch and practice on a smaller scale in order to build your confidence and understand the characteristics of the face you are going to illustrate.
When preparing his own version of a LWL cover for the Super Eight issue as part of a design competition, design student Paul Imrie first worked from freeze-frames of the film, pausing the movie at various points in the plot to get interesting expressions and then quickly sketching these in order to work on his portrait skills
TASK
- Watch the two Ender's Game trailers and freeze-frame at points where you can isolate an interesting expression on the face of your chosen focus character. Screen-grab the frames (CMD+Shift+4) and either using the graphics tablet or on paper sketch each face as best you can, trying to work on those features that most clearly define the subject's likeness. If you hand-draw your images, make sure you scan and adjust your drawings in Photoshop.
- Combine these initial draft sketches into a single document and annotate each image, saying what works and what doesn't and which aspects need improving in terms of working on your main portrait illustration.
MICKEY DUZYJ
www.mduzyj
YVAN QUINET
www.wyv.ch
AMY SOL
www.amysol.com
TOMER HANUKA
www.thanuka.com
JOANNA KROTKA
www.joannakrotka.com
TASK
Look at the work of one of the contemporary illustrators I've selected above. Go to their website and browse their online galleries of work. Choose one image and using a graphics tablet try to create as faithful a copy of the piece as you can. You should focus on a particular area or detail and not try to copy the entire image. Work as closely as you can to recreate the style of your chosen illustrator. Upload your work as a .png to your blog.
Work in groups of 3.
Taking it in turns play the other two group member at least a verse and chorus of your chosen tracks (using the splitters and headphones). Then using your treatment for reference talk through your ideas for your music video - the key is to communicate your plans as best as you can referring to performance type, mise-en-scene, camerawork and editing.
Ask for feedback on what your group members believe is effective about your ideas and what could be improved or potentially added.
Repeat this process until each member of the group has received feedback on the their 3 treatments.
FOR THIS PROCESS TO BE BENEFICIAL THOSE ASKING FOR FEEDBACK MUST PROMPT THEIR PEERS WITH BOTH OPEN AND CLOSED QUESTIONING. AND THOSE GIVING THE FEEDBACK WILL BE CREATIVE, HONEST AND ENCOURAGING.
MAKE SURE YOU GET CLEAR NOTES AND WRITE A RESPONSE TO THE FEEDBACK GAINED EXPLAINING WHAT YOU LEARNED AND WHAT WAS HELPFUL.
By now you should have chosen three potential tracks that you would like to turn into a music video.
The next stage is to start developing these into ideas.
Look at your work on music treatments and draft a treatment for each of the THREE tracks.
The treatments you write do not have to be any longer than 200 words, however, they must clearly communicate your ideas for the music video.
We will get feedback on your ideas early on Monday so be prepared.
The first AO of the Unit requires you to analysis TWO music videos in terms of FORMAT, CONTENT, INTENTIONS and TARGET AUDIENCE.
The marks scheme states the following:
"Candidates must make a detailed description of format, content, conventions and target audience giving clear examples from the professional videos. The intentions are explained with reference to a closely defined target audience."
Use the grid provided AS A GUIDE when writing your response in the middle column and cut and pasting a supporting screenshot from the video in the end column. Do the analysis directly onto your blog - this grid causes a few formatting problems.
Here is some help with the sections - some are taken straight from Goodwin, others are new ways of looking at the video.
Intentions - explain what you believe are the intentions of the artist and director. It could be as simple as 'to promote the single' but think about how the video may shape the idea of the artist for the viewer - does it build on their star persona?
Representations of the artist - how is the singer/band portrayed? How they lit, what are they doing, what is their performance like, what clothes are they wearing, are they happy/sad/moody/energetic/soulful/scary?
Typical of the Genre - identify the genre of the music - be as specific as you can. Is this video typical of that genre in terms of performance, imagery, mise-en-scene, narrative and representations. Back up each point with reference to the video and other videos from the genre.
Who is the target audience - obviously fans of this artist and genre, but can you expand on this? What does this audience expect? What else are they into (alternative culture, mainstream).
Why would this appeal to the target audience - which aspects of the video do you believe the target audience would enjoy - the performance, imagery, narrative etc
TASK 1
Use the brands, clothes, gigs, films, drinks identified in the advert breakdown to create a mind map of the Little White Lies Target audience. Find picture to illustrate the consumer choices and use Pages or Photoshop to arrange them in a pretty way.
It should look a little this:
Put a title on the picture: Little White Lie Target Audience.
And place the quote below on the document.
"But we don't have their tired formula, we don't cull our news section from the internet and we don't just choose the same films as everyone else to run with. That's all we want to do - provide somewhere for people who are really passionate about film to go." - Danny Miller, founder of Little White Lies
Here's an interview with him if you want to know more.
And here is an article from Grafik Magazine (Volume mag Volume 1, Issue 189, 2011).
OPTIONAL TASK 2
Go to http://www.tagxedo.com/
Press 'Create'. Press 'Load'. Cut and paste the text from your original analysis (the tables) into the empty text box.
See what you get. If it's pretty and interesting - save as a .jpg and load it onto your blog.