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My final Facebook rebrand film, created using After Effects. 

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My Final Product Photograph

This is my Final product image. I have edited it to the best of my ability using Photoshop.

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Photography Evaluation

For my photography aspect of this project, I was able to develop my own rebrand of a product aimed at adults to a standard that I am happy with. 

Over the weeks I have learnt several technical things to do with Photography such as Colour Theory, Lighting etc. and have incorporated it into my own work. As well as this, I came up with several product ideas which over the weeks have developed and changed.

The Idea I ended up using was of a rebranded ‘Controller’ that originally was intended to have a deeper message to do with Race and Equality. However I changed my mind because, I was experimenting in Photoshop and created something different that was still aimed at adults but the original meaning I intended had changed. What I ended up changing, was instead of having a political message behind the ad, it used nostalgia. What I mean by this is within my image I composited an old controller over the new modern controller saying that the new controller when held and used will bring back old memories. 

Despite the changes and the several other product Ideas I had, I feel that what I’ve ended up with is something I am overall happy with.

So, the way in which I created my final outcome, was by first getting my product photograph. Which I got by experimenting with my camera. Using a variation of settings. Once I found the settings that looked most appealing, I then experimented with different lighting setups with the help of Noah and Peter. Who both helped by holding light boxes at different angles as well as reflectors. I further explained this in a prior post.  As well as different light setups, I also experimented with reflections, by using a piece of glass from a frame. The images gathered with the reflections although successful were not used in the final outcome. Furthermore, after taking a variety of images with the different lighting setups, I used the most appealing in Photoshop, whereby I began to start manipulating the image. This included using tools like the lasso tool, quick selection, refine edge, free transform, blending options etc. 

In conclusion, I was able to create my product photograph and edit to a substantial standard. I wouldn’t have changed any of the processes I used besides maybe researching more into product advertising.  

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Facebook Rebrand Evaluation

Overall I was able to create several different Facebook logos to an acceptable standard, one of which was used for the final 30 second film. The one I ended up using, was one of my first initial drawings, shown in a past post. 

Furthermore, with a logo chosen, I then made a mini stop motion animation as well as a time lapse of myself drawing it using my Canon Rebel T3i, DSLR Camera. The footage and images captured were then converted into after effects, whereby I edited everything together. 

However, before compositing everything together within after effects, I decided to try recreate my drawn logo in Photoshop which turned out well considering time strains. With the digital version of the logo made, I was then able to continue with my editing. 

At the beginning of my 30 second short, I used “film crop bars” to make everything look more like a short movie. I also then animated them using keyframes, so when the film began the bars moved from hiding the film to revealing the film. 

My 30 second film contained music in the background adding a positive tone to the overall short. The song used was called “Upbeat Drums” which I found via YouTube. This wasn’t the first song I went for because, as I was experimenting I used a song called “Fun Advertising Music” which I also discovered on YouTube. However I feel this song did not sync up as well. The songs will be linked below in ‘Sources Used’.

Continuing forward, the final edit I made to the film was animating my digital logo to appear over the drawn one. This was done by first overlaying the digital logo over the drawn version at the end of the film and then making the film fade to white leaving just the digital logo. Then using key frames moving the digital logo into position.

In conclusion, I successfully made a 30+ second film incorporating my rebranded Facebook logo. It may not have been to a standard I personally am happy with but to an appropriate standard nonetheless.

Sources Used: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Et2cdYaA4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBKFOPfPUDE

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3 Photography Styles

Architectural photography:

Architectural photographers take photographs of buildings and other built structures in a professional capacity. The images are mainly used for commercial purposes.

Documentary photography: 

Documentary photography is a basic form of photography where important events, people and places are captured conveying a message about the world. As opposed to photojournalism, which is typically used to continuously break a news story.

Food photography: 

Food photography is a very specific type of photography, requiring  a subsequent passion and deep understanding of what is being shot.

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Basic Logo Creation

Here, I created a couple logo examples within Photoshop. These were created as an after thought to help give more representation of my brand for the photography aspect of the project. 

I like the second one more as I feel it looks more sleek and professional. However as these were made quite quickly, they are not the best logos I could create.

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Random Photoshop/Photography Work

What is this? 

These images are examples of “Action Figure Photography” that I took in my spare time. The reason behind why I took images of  Action Figures is because I feel it relates to Product photography and is good practice. It also is a form of photography I like as you can create cool movie scenes of creative custom scenes at a small scale. 

The way I created the image above? 

The Image above, is something I created in my spare time. It sort of links with product photography as I took photographs of a Thanos SH Figuarts action figure myself and then created my own advert out of the images.

The first thing I did when shooting the product was look for a black background. As I have no real backdrops or black card, I improvised by using a black jumper. I then took the images in the dark using only the flash of my camera set to the lowest flash setting. 

Once I had captured a good enough image, I put it into Photoshop, Selection tooled the background out and begun by duplicating the layer three times in order to create the retro RGB effect. Which you can do by changing each copied layers properties. After that I moved the different copied layers a small bit so you could see the effect. 

Next, I used the text tool with the font “Good Times” using the same technique on the text to get the RGB look also. As the product is a Japan import, I decided to have the same “Destiny Still Arrives” but in Japanese underneath. 

The last thing I did with this image was add the product brand logo in the bottom right corner.

Some other examples I created: 

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Target Audience of My Facebook Rebrand

For my Facebook rebrand, I feel that my target audience will be both male and female, from ages 13 and up. This is because, within my 30 second film, there is: upbeat music, vivid colours and drawing/colouring.

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Bob Martin

Who Is Bob Martin? 

Bob Martin is a British multi award winning sports photographer, based in London, with a career capturing the world’s most major events for more than 35 years. He has been awarded prestigious sports photographer of the year three times.  Martin’s work has also taken him to the farthest reaches of the globe, and his images have appeared in many publications such as Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, Bunte, L’Equipe, The Sunday Times, the New York Times and many others. 

Bob Martin began his photography venture at School. It was a big hobby of his, however Bob was more into developing images in a dark room than physically taking them, this helped teach him skills within photography that he now applies to his work today.  

Examples of his work: 

This shot was taken by Bob Martin when Usain Bolt first broke the world record in the 200 metre. In an interview he stated:

“I noticed that whenever Usain Bolt was going for a record, as he crossed the line he would look straight at the timing clock. So I started sitting down right next to it. This is when he broke the world record in the 200 meter final in Beijing and it appears that he’s looking directly at me. In fact, every time he broke a world record I was always the first person he saw!”  

The shot was taken on a D3 with a Nikon 70mm-200mm f2.8 G AF-S VR lens 1/1250th at f2.8, ISO 2000. 

Another interesting example of his work, was this image below, taken of a Ski Jumper before the Turin Olympics. The floodlights in the shot, caused controversy as many photographers thought it would cause a lack of light within shots, however for Bob Martin, it created a very nice contrast.

This image was shot on a Nikon D3 with a Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 G AF-S 1/800th at f2.8, ISO 400.

How do I feel about these images? 

I think that they are great images to exist, as it shows a real life view on things and how anything can be achieved through hard work and dedication. His photography has a sense of realism, meaning that there are no eccentric colours, or overly complex shots. The second Image I used, of the Ski Jumper, in my opinion is a great shot. I like the contrast between the light and dark of the jumper and the sky.

In my opinion, I feel like I could create similar images. As it’s not about the equipment you have or having a specific setup, it’s more about being in the moment. Meaning that if a major event is happening near me, I will just take a picture of it as it’s happening rather than set up studio equipment, making sure everything is perfect.  

Sources Used:

https://www.adorama.com/alc/meet-a-pro-elite-sports-photographer-bob-martin

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Practice Photography

The two above shots, were taken using my Canon rebel T3i on the close up setting. Shot at about mid day with maximum natural lighting. 

These two shots, were also taken with the same camera. However here I tried using different sources of lighting. This was taken in a dark, stairway area within the college using only a small green light behind the subject. 

Some more practice photography, taken during college at around midday also. However the difference with this image, is a group of friends and I gathered several leaves and threw them. This created an interesting autumn esc image. 

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Product Photography Photoshop Practice

One of the images taken today during college was done using the same lighting setup explained in a previous post. However I used a piece of glass from a photo frame in order to get a nice reflection of the controller. Although the image turned out fine, there were some anomalies. For example dust particles, scratches and unwanted reflections.

How I removed scratches and particles from the image: 

The image above is what I managed to create using a variation of techniques. Some of which were removing scratches and dust particles within the image.

The way I removed the vast majority of scratches and particles, was by duplicating the original image. Then converting to a smart object. Afterwards, I went into “Filters” then “Noise” and selected the option “Dust and Scratches” once on the Dust and Scratches option screen. I changed the radius to around 21 with the threshold being between 5 and 11.

Furthermore, I held the alt key and clicked on the new layer mask icon. This created a layer mask that was fully black. I now then selected the brush tool and made sure that the primary colour was white. 

Finally I painted over the specs and scratches which made them mostly disappear.

How I removed the unwanted reflections:

The way I managed to hide the unwanted reflection, was by first using the lasso tool and copying a segment of the image that did not have either the product or reflection in. With a section of the image copied, I pasted it onto the main photo.

Pressing control t with the copied image layer selected, I transformed it to fit the unwanted reflection area. After I have the copied image over the unwanted reflection, I created a layer mask. With the layer mask selected, I then had white set as the primary colour and selected the eraser tool. Using the eraser tool, I got rid of any part of the image that overlapped with the main product. 

Sources that helped: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLTIf3lBYbI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Z18aZqKtI

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Product Photography Experimentation

Above are the set ups I used for my experimentation today during college.

For the first example, I used a single light-box and a reflector. Whilst for the second example, I used two light boxes, having one to the side and one above the product. This helped reduce shadow. On top of having two lights I used the reflector again, which reflected the light from the light box to the darker areas of the shot.

The image above is where I used a single light source with the reflector. It turned out quite well however the bottom part of the controller was slightly too dark. Reducing the amount of detail. 

The next image, is of one light to the left side of the product table and one light being held over the top, with a reflector beneath the camera reflecting more light onto the lower sides of the controller. This was a substantially better image, as the details were more crisp and the shadows were lessened. 

As my idea originally revolved around having both a black and white controller. I used the same lighting setups but with the white controller. 

I feel the second image turned out slightly better as less light was used. The reason less light was used was due to the controller being white. Which alone projects light. 

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Product Proposal

For my product advert, I propose to have a gaming controller of no specific brand in two contrasting colours. Black and white. 

The idea behind having both a black and white controller, is to represent people of different colours and background. The message behind the ad, will be that everyone is in control and no matter what ethnicity you are we are all equal. 

The way in which I will portray this Idea, is by either having two separate subjects/models of opposite colours. Similar to the controllers. I will then have them seated in the same positions, holding the opposite controller to them each. However if gathering two models is proven too difficult, I will take Images of my product and will use Photoshop to create a composition with the effects learnt while practising in spare time. 

In order to pull off either of these ideas, I will need to gather the right equipment. Some of which are: Camera (Canon Rebel T3i), Light boxes, Tripod, two controllers, Chair, Black backdrop etc. 

I will be aiming to get this done during college. This is because I will then have a broader access to equipment, people and help if needed. 

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30 Second film Experimentation

Above Is the image of the first 10 seconds of my 30 second short film revealing my new Facebook logo. However the quality was not what I expected.

What went wrong?

Firstly, the images used were quite out of focus. This is due to having my camera on manual settings as opposed to manual. Which when I re shoot I will change. 

Secondly, the lighting was little off. Though almost being fine, when editing the shadows were noticeable making the overall film look unprofessional.

What I can do to improve?

 To improve for next time, I should set my focus to auto as it will focus on the subject I am photographing as opposed to everything in the background. I could also use light boxes to increase amount of light on images and help reduce shadows.

Things to consider:

As I am doing stop motion animation, on top of story boarding my idea, I could use a thing called “Dope Sheet” which is a way to account for every action I plan on making within my animation. Dope Sheets can be effective if I am doing one part of the animation one day and the other part the next. It basically will keep everything I need to remember there but without the stress of having myself remembering everything.

Sites I will use to help broaden my understanding of “Dope Sheets” are linked below: 

http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/dope_sheets.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE9XkdlMoTs

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Fake News

What is Fake News? 

Fake news is basically the process of fabricating stories with the intent of deceiving people. It’s quite a common practice in today’s world. For example, I was browsing YouTube in my spare time and I happened upon this video linked and shown below: 

The video’s premise, is several people group together to fabricate a strange Justin Bieber story using a lookalike found via Instagram. Within the video, the process of how they finalised and pulled off the idea is explained. By just posting in popular sub-redit chains on the platform “Reddit” the fake news story made headlines.

How this relates to my project?

This relates to my project as it's about social media of which a lot of things are shared. Some things shared could more than likely be fake, and I should always be aware of it if I'm collecting factual data.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs6In7UtyXY

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The image above are of two opposite coloured controllers that will be used for my product photography.

The “X” logo in the top center of the controller will be either covered or changed to a logo I create. This is because my idea is not associated with Xbox and more just gaming controllers in general.

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Colour Theory

What is Colour Theory?

Colour theory is the way we perceive, use and mix colours as well as what message they convey. Colour theory links with my project as it can help develop my brand and give a meaning behind what I'm creating.

What is Colour?

Colour is something that our eyes perceive. For example if you look at grass our eyes collect the information of the grass and sends it to our brain telling us it's a specific colour. Which is green. Colour is something that everybody recognises despite not realising it. A statistic is shown below:  

"People decide whether or not they like a product in 90 seconds or less. 90% of that decision is based solely on colour."

This alone shows the importance of colour, and as I am rebranding a social media platform as well as a product of my choice. I should take colour into major consideration.

What is RGB?

RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. Referring to the three hues of light. That if mixed together, you can create any colour.    

Sources:

https://techterms.com/definition/rgb

https://99designs.co.uk/blog/tips/the-7-step-guide-to-understanding-color-theory/