Evaluation of where I am at now and my plan for the last week

This post is to sum up where I am at after the research and development work hand in. I have filmed most of the footage that I think I need, however there may be a couple more opportunities to go out and film some more. I think I would always like to be in the position where I have more footage than I need because it means I have more flexibility and it will be good to keep in my personal collection of work for any future projects. I have started editing and would say that I have roughly edited the first 2 minutes of 5. This obviously could all change when I look at the edit with fresh eyes. I think that this is a problem that I have because I get too involved in the footage I am editing, so I will need to get some outside opinions and hopefully the feedback will be of use. Hopefully by the end of this week I will have a substantial amount of the video edited to a decent standard and I can get some more direct feedback of members of Fixed Gear Leeds. Once I am at this stage I will start drafting ip some designs for the DVD cover etc, so that by the beginning of next week I will have an edit that I will simply be fine tuning and I will have some sort of design that can also be fine tuned with a view to printing it before Wednesday.

Examples of DVD covers for Fixed Gear DVDs - Mash

Mash SF front with wrap around band.



Mash SF front and back



Mash SF inside,

Unfortunately I don't own the Mash SF DVD (although I do own a copy of the DVD) but as you can see this DVD is packaged with a small book. I would say that overall it is a more professional looking set of packaging but I think this is mainly down to the fact thatyou are paying a bit more and it includes a book. This means that it needs to be harder wearing as the consumer will want the book to last and they want it to be more aesthetically pleasing. People are more likely to buy a book because it looks nice rather that a nice looking DVD case. This is down to the fact that the way a book is presented plays a bigger factor than a DVD, due to the main attraction with a DVD is its content, not necessarily its packaging. Back to the packaging itself I really like the simplicity of the design. It just features the Mash logo on what looks like a well bound book. The silver on black is understated and adds to the clean/simple design. I'm guessing they needed to put the band of card around the book so that people who don't know what Mash is can get an idea just by looking at the cover. I think this would be something the consumer would disregard once they have purchased the DVD, I know I would because I would prefer the cleaner looking front cover. I do not think I could produce anything near this standard in the short space of time I have left in the project. I wish I had factored the designing and production of the DVD packaging into my schedule. I think realistically I can produce something that is closer to the look and feel of the Fast Friday. I like the fold out design so you have the 3 panels with the DVD placed in the middle one. Like I said before the Fast Friday DVD had the DIY feel to it and I think it's this style that I am going to go for when I produce my cover/packaging.

Examples of DVD covers for Fixed Gear DVDs - Fast Friday

Fast Friday front cover.



Fast Friday back cover.



Fast Friday fold out middle 1.



Fast Friday fold out middle 2.



Fast Friday fold out reverse.

I have talked about Fast Friday in my research before and it is one of my favorite Fixed gear videos, where by I actually spent £15 of my money on the DVD. I'm glad I did decide to buy it as the DVD packages is extremely nice in my opinion. It's got that nice balance between something that is well made but also has that independently produced feel to it, that I think works really well with the DIY fixed gear mentality. I think the front cover is very well designed and I like the use of the multiple photos split up into different sizes. As far as the typography goes I think the variation in weight works very well on the front but I'm not so keen on the back of the DVD. I think the type on the purple background looks out of place and doesn't work very well with the images around it. It feels a bit too cluttered on the back of the DVD for me I would have liked to see it simplified slightly and maybe followed a similar theme as the rest of the packaging. Printing onto the DVD is another cool touch and will be something I look into when it comes to me making my own.

Producing DVD Cover for Hand In & Examples of Fixed Gear Leeds Existing Logos and Artwork

Above are some examples of the logos and artwork that Sam has produced for Fixed Gear Leeds.

Although the promotional video will mainly feature on the internet, for the hand in I intend to design a cover For the DVD that I am going to hand into college for the project. I am looking forward to knocking this up as it means I get to do a bit of graphic design something that I rarely do anymore but really enjoy. This could be another good opportunity to get some feedback from Sam as he produces all the graphic elements for the group and get his feedback. I could incorporate some form of photography but I think I might try and keep it relatively simple and more graphic based as it might just mean extra work that isn't entirely necessary. I will update the blog when I start working on it.

Story Boards

Above are my written storyboards. I didn't see any point in drawing anything out because I already have most of the footage. These are more of an editing aid because I needed to get the running order straight in my head before I starting chopping up the many hours of footage I have filmed over the last couple of weeks. This method has seemed to work fine for me so far as I will be the first to admit I didn't really direct the group I just let them get on with what they would normally be doing and I moved around getting the shots. I may however had got better shots if I had directed them around but no1. this didn't feel like the right thing to do as I was a new member to the group on some of the rides and for some people this was down time from work etc and they didn't want someone directing them around. No2. I wanted to get to know the group so that I could ride with them in the future and so I wasn't purely treating this as a project that was only important for college.

Slow-Mo

A technique that I want to play around with is using slow-mo as it was used to such great affect in the Texas Toast Video that is on this blog somewhere. I think when it is applied to tricks it can really emphasize the technique and skill required to pull them off, or in the case of my shirt video above not pull them off. I don't think it is something I will use alot in the video but I think if it is slipped in occasionally it can look really good. It is very easy to do in final cut pro as just an effect you apply to footage shot t a normal frame rate. However to get really smooth slow-mo footage you need to use a camera that can shoot at a higher rate of frames per second. This could be worth investigating in future projects.

Skid Videos

One positive that I can take from all the rain is that it makes it easier to skid on your bike. So thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get a bit more footage down that I might be able to include in the video. I like the shots where I placed the camera very close to the ground as I think it's a more dramatic angle and if the skid is performed well and is directed towards the camera it makes for a more exciting angle on the trick.