Website - Creation

I began by creating the menu section of the website. This includes a previously-made logo for the band that can be seen in the video and across merchandise, a navigation bar, and two animated records to keep in with the retro theme.

Website - Creation

Merchandise

When creating merchandise, I used Adobe Lightroom (photo editing) and Ibis Paint (illustrations) to edit photos I had taken. 

Here is the before and after of a t-shirt I made for the website:

BEFORE (photo without any editing):

AFTER (photo with editing and illustration, plus a version with a transparent background):

I removed any dirt or marks from the backdrop, changed the colour of the bag to fit the colour scheme, added the band's logo, and edited the overall appearance of the photo. I then also removed the background in case I needed to use a transparent version of the image.

Website - Planning

I first designed a mood board for the website so I knew what the visual aesthetic would be like.

I also created a mood board as inspiration for the photography on my website, which I then used as a reference when taking photos.

I then made two different rough plans for my website, the first for the ‘home page’, and the second for the ‘about us’ page. 

I used these plans to highlight the specific features I wanted to include on each page, such as:

Home page:

- Masthead (+ band logo)

- A menu to each website page

- A feature where a cassette tape appears when you hover over a menu option

- The music video (framed in an old retro TV)

- An interactive gallery

- A competition where fans send in photos of themselves dressed as their favourite 80s film character for a chance to win free tickets to a concert

- A brand deal with (BRAND)

- A newsletter sign-up and social media links at the bottom

- A merch pop-up when you open the website

About page:

- Photos of each band member alongside a description for fans to learn more about them

- A feature where, when you click on a member’s description, their favourite 80s film appears

- A charity collaboration, with a description that highlights the band’s ethos

First Draft

Vimeo link:

https://vimeo.com/1022651195?share=copy#t=0

Website - Photo editing

Before making the website, I decided to edit some of my photos using a mixture of Adobe Lightroom and Ibispaint (for drawings).

Below are two photos from the Breakfast Club segment, inspired by two iconic photos from the film (seen next to each photo), where I have edited the photos to have an '80s look' to them.

The next photos are the photos intended for the 'about the band' area, where each member will have an introduction next to their photos. I first edited the photos in lightroom, before adding drawings with Ibispaint, assigning each member with a colour from the website's colour palette and a different 'theme' for their drawings to create a sense of individuality with each member.

Music Video - Planning/shot-list

 Below is a visual plan/shot-list I made before I began filming for my music video, as well as planning for the costume design for the 'Breakfast Club' segment of the video- including the design for badges that 'the criminal' wears, which doubles up as merch that fans can buy on the website. Some of the shots I filmed successfully, whereas others I decided I wouldn't include for various reasons.

I then summarised these ideas into a check-list that I could use when filming for my video and taking photos for my website:

Original footage - Editing

  I began by first editing the 30-second original footage for the website. I had the idea of creating a ‘Behind The Scenes’ blooper reel for the music video. I decided on this because not only would it provide convergence between the video and the website, but also would provide interaction for fans of the band who would want to find out more about the making of the video or would provide personal identity for the fans who would enjoy and connect with the band laughing and making mistakes together.

I decided to use the song ‘We Are Not Alone’ by Karla DeVito because it’s another iconic song from The Breakfast Club, providing further intertextuality, whilst also connecting with the song in the music video and matching the overall brand identity of an 80s rock and pop-culture inspired band.

I decided to edit this first as it would give me a chance to learn different editing techniques whilst tackling a smaller video size, which I could then use when editing the music video. This helped me experiment with editing audio, cutting between different clips and syncing them to music, and using techniques like fading in and out.

7th September 2024:

After putting in all the footage I wanted, the video reached just over a minute in length. I then had to go back and decide what I wanted to keep and what I could remove in order to half the length of the video to 30 seconds. After editing I managed to reach 30 seconds whilst still maintaining the same aim I had originally to create an entertaining BTS bloopers reel that would relate to and inspire fans.