A2 Music Video - Group 2

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Evaluation:
Question 1- http://twgsbmedia10a2group2.blogspot.com/2010/12/ao-in-what-ways-does-your-media-product.html

Question 2- http://twgsbmedia10a2group2.blogspot.com/2010/12/ao-how-effective-is-combination-of-your.html

Question 3- http://twgsbmedia10a2group2.blogspot.com/2010/12/ao-how-did-you-use-media-technologies.html

Print Production:
http://twgsbmedia10a2group2.blogspot.com/2010/12/ao-print-work.html

1)

http://twgsbmedia10a2group2.blogspot.com/2010/12/tm-question-1-in-what-ways-does-your.html

2)

http://twgsbmedia10a2group2.blogspot.com/2010/12/tm-question-2-how-effective-is.html

3)

http://twgsbmedia10a2group2.blogspot.com/2010/12/tm-question-4-how-did-you-use-media.html

James Parrish - 4121

Evaluation:
Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Advert

Thursday 23 December 2010

AO - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

For our music video we used a range of different technologies, for different parts of the production. The blog was very useful, as it enables us to see each others work, and what the other people in the group are thinking, we could use the blog to brainstorm ideas, and comment on the groups work.

These things allowed us to collaboratively produce an idea and concept for our music video, and also post research or links that we thought would be useful to the video.

We were able to post new ideas for the concept of the video or new shot ideas on the blog, allowing us to have up to date ideas, and seeing how our ideas develop. This was key in the planning of our video and the development of it.

Another aspect of Web 2.0 we used was Survey Monkey; we used to carry out our first part of the audience research. Survey Monkey is a website which allows people to create a questionnaire online, and invite people to complete it.

This was very useful as it was easy to create a questionnaire, and was also easy for people to fill out, as it was all done on the Internet. Another useful thing about Survey Monkey was that you could easily access results from the surveys, and create graphs and tables from them.

For the filming, we used HD cameras, these were very good, and as the picture quality was high, which gave our video a better look. However, we did experience some problems with the cameras, which limited our filming on two occasions, due to a broken battery and a full memory card.

These problems meant that we had to change our camera, as it was not working, and restricting our filming time. After we changed the camera to a different one, we had no further problems.

In post-production we used Adobe Premiere 8.0 to edit our music video, which allowed us to use effects on some shots, and cut the footage up, so that it looked like a music video.

Throughout the editing of our video (using premiere), we used the time stretch tool, because for a lot of sequences we needed to speed up the time or reverse the clip backwards.

Below shows how we used time stretch to create this effect.

The tool was very effective as it enabled us to get a really stylistic feel to the video, and gave us a brilliant start to the music video. We also used the time stretch tool for the parts in the video where the video rewinds or goes backwards, this worked as it allowed us to change the storyline easily and fit in other parts of the footage that we filmed. E.g. when the video rewinds to the sequence in the snow.

Another effect we used in Premiere was the video merge; we used this to over-lay the pictures of the lead singer as a child on the video. This allowed us to remove the desk which we dropped the photos onto, without removing the pictures.

For our print production we used Adobe Photoshop, which we could use to create our digipak and adverts.

In my print work I used a still from the music video, I did this by exporting a freeze frame from the video, then putting this in Photoshop, and I then cut out the figure of the lead singer by using the magnetic lasso tool. I used different effects on the figure in the bottom left, and created 4 layers of the figure all using a different effects. I distorted the images of the figure by using filters including, accented edges, coloured pencil, film grain, paint daubs and angled strokes.

On all the images of the figure I used a drop shadow, to create the dark shadow behind the figure. I also used a drop shadow to create the white glow on other side of the figures.

AO - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

After doing the print work separately this means that we have not collaboratively thought of ideas for the digipak and adverts, which is the reason for the different constructions of the bands image.

As we have produced two adverts for the print work, they are different to each other, this shows different interpretations of what would be on the bands poster, and how they should be advertised. Even though the adverts look quite different, they both use aspects of the band’s image that we have created, either in reference to the music video or the digipak.

We have also tried to make the adverts and digipak quite striking to look at, and really catch the eye of the consumer. We have done this by all using blue as the main colour, and the colour that stands our in our print work.

I think this has helped our group to create a cohesive band image, and can help consumer’s to identify that the print work is reminiscent of the video and the other texts we have produced.

For one advert to link the music video to the advert we used a freeze frame from the video (below) in my advert, as this is a visual link to the music video and the band.

This picture of the lead singer is used in the digipak as well, showing the link between the two. Also I have used a similar font to the one that has been used in the digipak and the alternative advert.

Below shows the transformation of the image taken from the video, to the one which is on the advert.

We also used other features which would help promote the band at their success, for example we included the band’s web address and their record label on the advert. This lets the consumer know that the band have a record deal, and helps them to link the success of the band to the album.

The digipak uses effects to connote the bands image, one effect which really stands out is the colour manipulation effect, which is used to take the entire colour away from the picture, apart from one colour or an object.

This acts as a visual motif for the consumer, and conforms to the band’s image of being quite low key and inconspicuous.

The digipak links in well with the video, as there are plenty of intertextual references to the video, for example on the front cover of the digipak, there is a picture of an eye with the world inside. This shows a clear relationship between the digipak and the video because the song is called 'See the World'.

The band's image is constructed throughout the digipak, which is also shown in the video through the effects that we have used, like colour manipulation. Which conveys the band's tone, which is a naturalistic feel, and gives the band a organic image.

In the video you can see how the lead singer is seen as playful, running around in the snow and looking as if he is having a good time, this is one of the key characteristics which Richard Dyer says is portrayed by ‘stars’, young and youthful people who have found success and are not afraid to show it.

Dyer goes on to say that ‘audiences dislike age’, so in videos artists need to come across as young, by looking as if they have a lot energy and acting light-hearted in the video.

Dyer states that this gives enjoyment to the audience, as they are watching someone else’s energetic life. As this can either revert some audiences back to their youth or relate to audiences that are of a similar to the artist.

Dyer also talks about the artist creating a connection with the audience through close-ups, and breaking the fourth wall. These help to create an extra-diagetic gaze with the audience, enabling them to identify with the consumer.

AO - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our music video uses forms and conventions of music videos from the same or similar genre; we have done this by using techniques and styles that are evident in videos of the genre of our track.
The music video that we have created conforms to the conventions of the genre of our track, as the music videos which I have studied in the indie rock/alternative rock genre are narrative based, and focus on a storyline rather than the band.
So the typical music video of an indie rock track will have a storyline which is present throughout the video, and will be the main focus of the music video
A good example of this is the Arctic Monkeys video for their song; When The Sun Goes Down (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma9I9VBKPiw)

This is what we have done, as our music video is based around the narrative of the main character, and his new lease of life.
We have also incorporated some close-up performance shots, so that we can create that para-social intimacy with the audience. This shows us following the mainstream route, as music videos usually have a lot of meat-shots of the artist, and try to break the fourth wall.
By following the mainstream for this genre, it helps the audience to identify with other artists or tracks in a similar genre, and enables them to find out which genre the track is. It can also help listeners of this genre identify and relate to the video.
However, we have also challenged some conventions of this genres music videos, by not having any band performance shots, as music videos usually include performance shots of the band. But we only used performance shots of the lead singer, which isn’t conventional of a music video of this genre.
We did this because we wanted to challenge conventions, so we decided not to have any performance shots of the band, and just of the lead singer. This was because we wanted to link the performance shots to the narrative, and we didn’t want to come away from the storyline of the video.
A video which employs a similar style of performance shots is The Kooks – Naïve, which has lip-synching from the lead singer, but no performance shots with the band. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkaMiaRLgvY)

Throughout the video we used rural and woodland locations, as this was a symbol of the organic sound that the track has, which gives the song a slight autumnal feel. Due to this we tried to keep the theme of the rural locations through the course of the video, and I believe we did this successfully.
We used sped up shots through woods and urban areas, to create the feeling of a person travelling through their life. We originally got this idea from the video of ‘La Ritournelle’ by Sebastien Tellier. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsk8QQj5Nrc)

This is also an example of how our video is post-modern, because we have used borrowed this idea from another artist (intertextuality).
Using Goodwin's critical framework, our video conforms to the stereotypical music video, via amplification of sound and lyrics through a visual medium such as; the sounds is amplified through the cutting rate of the video, through performance shots of the lead singer, through lip-synching in parts of the song, through first-person mode of address when the lead singer is lip-synching.
Although I believe there is a strong link between the music and visuals, I think that there is also an element of disjuncture in the video, as the narrative of the music video, is linked in with the lyrics or music of the track.
We can also had another one of Goodwin’s theories to our video, as we have what he calls ‘the notion of looking’, when an artist’s image is repeated in the video e.g. through reflections in a mirror. Or in our case through a picture of the artist, this means that the audience are consuming the star more often
Goodwin also says that artist’s identify with the audience, by looking into the camera. This is shown in our music video; in all of our performance shots, the singer is looking directly at the camera; establishing para-social intimacy with the viewer through a first person mode of address. The artist is looking at the audience as if they are speaking to the individual directly, which is conventional of all music videos.