Evaluation

Evaluation

The brief was set back in September, and it was a very open, the only one thing was that your idea and your final outcome had too relate to, 'This is Change'.

As a final major project its a continuous development project, exploring different techniques, lots or researching and more importantly lots of experimentation, (trail and errors) given that most were unsuccessful experiments, some had potential, however if they were for another idea or someone else's project.

Anyhow after months and months of going around (what I call a wonderland) I finally knew how my outcome should be represented, through the medium of an advert. 

I already had the proposal, which steamed from tea and social class, then that was slightly tweaked down to creating a British tea campaign.

With all the ingredients there, it was then working out how to structure and formulate my proposal into this advert, but needed to know what style and how I was going to do it.

Then the answer Polaroids and using my own CGI elements (using a green screen) too.

I am quite happy with the final outcome, came out better than I expected, half the time when you have the visions they don't always work out, but this time around it did. The hardest part was making sure the footage matched up to the style of the Polaroids and keeping it consistent. 

The small details I feel made the advert a success, the narration and the fluidity of the advert.

If I was asked to do this project again, I would probably push the idea of projection mapping and using 3D Particles as an affect. I like the flow and elegancy of particles and there's something organic about the movement too. It's something new too learn and learning a new technique of showcasing your art in a different format.

I very much enjoyed working in After Effects I feel over the course of the year I have enhanced my knowledge of post production and I can only get better with more practice and gaining more experience. A great thing working on the final major project is that you enhance your skill set to be a graphic designer too, with organsing and laying out your portfolio (whether its printed or digital) so your always in a development of bettering your skill sets.

Over all I have thoroughly enjoyed doing my final major project, met some great people, learnt a great deal and enjoyed being involved in the process. I can't wait to start to curate my own exhibition and get everyone drinking tea again.

Soundtrack

Music

So now I am nearly finished, I feel going over my reference advert videos, I need some music, and because its all about embracing tea, being proud, full of pride and patrotic, I am thinking on the lines of something of British Indie, Rock and Roll, Blues experimental type. 

Bands such as:

The Beatles
The Who
Rolling Stones
The Clash
The Animals

I don't mind anything contemporary, but needs to fit my advert and the voice over.

I have picked a list:

The Who: Baba'oriley
Elton John: Someone saved my life
The Beatles: And I lover her and Day Tripper
Rolling Stones: Get off my cloud
Herman Hermits: I'm into something good

I have gone for the instrumental version of The Who's Baba'oriely because I love the part where it gets a bit epic, and it shouts out pride and britian.

I have edited a lot in post production.

More over I did look at the website too for experimental and indie songs, I used it for my Wine App.

http://freemusicarchive.org/

Post Production

Post Production

I am still experimenting with various effects in post production, however the one I am more than likely going to use the film grain overlay effect. 

I am still experimenting with 2D flat effects and an actual film overlay effect that runs like a reel.

At the moment it works but don't know if it is too much.

Going through my old projects, I used a film overlay grain effect for my Johnny Cash Lip Sync project, luckily I didnt delete it.  

(heres the link for varied effects and one for a nosie grain effect:

http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-1308193-stock-footage--seconds-of-dust-hair-and-scratches-lifted-from-real-mm-film-with-film-projector-audio.html?src=rel/807862:1/gg

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/old_film_look/

Here are some screen shots of the film over lay on the advert, it works but don't if it needs it.

Here's the overlay on a still image, its subtle, however still not convinced.

                                Here again it's on moving footage, subtle just like below

It works best on moving footage, I don't know so much still shots.

Advert

Advert

So after I kept re working the footage, picking various images, to represent certain lines to match the voice over, I have finally came to a near conclusion of the advert, need a few slight adjustments, i.e music, and some more post production work but it's nearly there, I am happy with how its going.

Cant wait too finally finish my advert and it's campaign.

Anyhow here some screenshots that made the cut for the advert, I kept it to the style that I wanted to achieve the retro look, using sepia tones and de-saturise the footage too.

This is the intro sequence, various shot's of tea being made.

Following on from the sequence, this is the next scene, war shots.

This is the beginning, the line where it says, "for years this amber liquid gold..."

This footage comes after finely tuned leaf, this is for, "handpicked carefully"

From the one previously of the piggy bank this looks far more interesting and more animated, works well for the line, "In Britain I am worth over 650 million pounds"

This is right near the end of the advert, where the tea is being brewed. 

This is the 3D particles animated for the line "tea is brewing a quiet revolution"

Back to the advert

Back to the advert

So I already have the images I need for my advert, and the style that I plan to use (via the Polaroid theme)

So I placed a lot around my flat, but the one thing was I noticed I didn't need so many on various aesthetics because I didn't look right when I put them together with the footage.

So I just kept to the cork board, for the same theme and it looks more vintage.

Anyhow here is some screenshots of the footage that didn't really work with my advert.

This was for the line, "this is just the start" It didn't work with the images that went on before and after. It just looked out of place.

This was for the line, "In Britian I am worth over 650 million pounds", yet again same problem the images, but I think more so the style that has been set, it's too fun. Needs to be more vintage, it doesn't help the piggy bank.

After tweaking the video too be de-saturised, it looked a lot better, however an image fitted best with the line, "I am a finely tuned leaf"

Final Posters

Final Posters

So once I had my new tools to play with I decided to do something simple, taking inspirations from all the various posters I had seen.

Not forgetting I needed to keep in mind who my target audience was.

Here they are, still need a few tweaks, but I think I will use the black and brown poster, not the one which good be described as a very good front cover design.

New Ideas

Inspired

So since seeing Anton's Burmistov poster's I decided to go through some of my old work and think what elements could I re-create or cut out to create a consistent poster layout.

It was right infront of me, I drew out some elegant teapots, teacups and a kettle a few months back and what I did I converted them into vector files and worked with them or into them, as a clipping mask.

Going through my old work, whilst I was creating my logo for my app, I designed a few typography ornaments also, so I experimented with them too.

Here are the elements I changed and made my own.

Ideas

Back to the drawing board

So after experiment with a variety of styles for my poster, the one thing I was missing was consistency on my designs. 

So I thought I would check out various Pinterest pages and Behance pages also.

I came across this one guy's work which was rather cleverly designed but very simple, and all of his posters were consistent. 

His name Anton Burminstov.

Recommend his work 100%

Here are some examples of his work.

Poster Ideas

Posters

Once I had showed them to a few colleagues and tutors, I got some very interesting feedback. 

With all the feedback taken into account, I made some notes and looked back over my previous designs and worked on the ones that had potential, and changed the typography, but this time round mixing my Polaroids I had with the composition to see what it would look like.

The results, slowly getting there, but still mixing something.

Here the poster designs, second stage: 

This slowly getting more like to what style, however missing the elegant factor

Doesn't work, I think because of the background bit too busy.

This is simple and dynamic, I quite like it.

Yet again, I kept with the Polaroid image, because it worked in the previous design. 

Even though this is completely different design I quite like it.

Poster Ideas

Posters

Whilst I was looking through various styles for my poster campaign, the one thing I already had was good imagery. So I thought why not start messing around with layouts and typography.

Th first posters I didn't like, however they started to slowly improve, the one thing that I noticed was the font didn't match the style of my poster.

So needed to go back to he drawing board.

Anyhow here is a few of my poster designs I produced.

this one I dislike

need to change the colours, too dark.

I don't mind this one, works well.

This one has potential

Campaign

Campaign - References

Like all advert, whether there imagery or animations or what not, you need to market your idea.

So I thought like most adverts there are always posters that sell the idea too, different type of marketing.

So now I knew my idea for the advert, and how I was going to portray it. The nest step was using the theme of the British to enjoy the cup of tea.

So for a reference to start me off I looked at various tea campaigns and ideas of posters, layout, content and imagery.

I am looking for something on the lines of simple, elegant with that sense of hierarchy involved, but also potentially branding it towards my Polaroid theme I have running through the advert, it could end up being retro too.

Here are my references.

It's a clever campaign, but too busy, I like the style.

A bit too simple, but powerful message

This is a mix of both, love the idea of mixing typography within the elements of tea, simple and easy on the eye, my type of style. 

It's funny and clever

Really like the style of this campaign, simple and too the point.

This is one of my favourites, you feel the message being portrayed, and love the aesthetics running through the poster.

Polaroids

Real Polaroids

So after messing around with my own made Polaroid frame, I knew it was lacking the aesthetics of a real Polaroid image, so I thought right down all the images I need and make some side notes on my script and send off my images I already had gathered to be printed as a Polaroid. 

When they arrived, I was very happy with the results, it felt and looked like a Polaroid, the one thing which was missing I finally had it.

Now with everything in order, next thing was too record the voice over.

Below I have posted some of my Polaroids (for the advert I pinned the Polaroids on walls, cork-board, and hang them up on string to give that feel that I explored around London whilst doing this project.