Thursday, 17 March 2011
Personal Reflection of Project
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
There were many limitations whilst using these technologies, as some like photo shop had the habit to shut down during our work (thankfully Jack and Jemma saved!). I also discovered from using the variety of technologies mentioned above that there are different types of soft wares that do the same job, but may work better than another. The new iMovie was much more user friendly than the last, and easier to locate functions when compared to Final Cut. Another example was Audacity against Garage Band, both had the capability to do what we wanted however Garage Band was much more accessible and a better software in terms of speed and set up. Over all, our music video and subsidiary tasks could not have been completed with out these technologies, which also helped to improve our skills when compared to last year's course work.
What have you learned from your audience feed back?
From the audience feedback gathered at the A level media show case, where our final work was presented, we found that we succeeded in covering our main goals. These were:
• To create a music video that in terms of editing conventions would look aesthetically professional
• To conform to rock music video genres, and
• To create a quirky, fun, and enjoyable music video.
This made us very proud as creators of media, especially since the majority of those who participated in filling the questionnaires were within our stated target audience demographic.
Throughout the production of our music video, we also had constant audience feedback from class mates and teachers, which guided us in the changes we made. One particular comment that finalised our music video was the idea that the music video was confusing; the song was sung by a male, but one of the lead singers was female, suggesting they were not the actual artists. If the music video was meant to be some sort of fan-tribute music video, it would make more sense to have establishing shots of each band setting up their equipment for filming, for an almost home-made viral video effect.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The non-visual links of the music video and digipak is also clear. As stated before, the digipak’s main inspiration was the song, “Just a Day”. As a digipak is a collector’s item, we thought about what fans wanted to know about the band members, and played around with the idea of “the band member’s just –a- day”. Which then lead onto the creation of the front and back images, which are the same in colour and pose, but the back cover features the band members holding their instruments. Therefore, showing a symbolic link of them (band) to the song, as it is illustrating their “Just a Day” as people who have both the normal lifestyle that we (the fans) do, but also as rock stars. However, this link would not be clear to the audience unless you really listened to the lyrics, and had both ancillary items in hand whilst making textual analysis notes.
The main music video itself also links to both ancillary tasks through colour scheme as the saturation has been brought up to create a vibrant and “pop-art” effect to our “Just a Day” representational world. The inside sleeve of the digipak also shows screen shots from the music video and behind the scene. On the other hand, it could be argued that compared to the digipak and magazine poster, there are less links visually, as not all performers in the music video are on the digipak cover.
[INSERT ANNOTED IMAGES ON SLIDESHARE HERE]
In what way does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real products?
This shot is the most conventional of both rock, and general music videos. It is often shown in a guitar solo, where the guitarist has an opportunity the show the audience his/hers musical talent. It appeals to the rock genre, as many who listen to it are also musicians themselves, or those who appreciate music. Close ups allow them to see the details of the song they love, and overall, it looks cool.
Although only a few seconds each, these shots an equally expected at the beginning of a music video. It sets the scene and creates an idea of what else will be featured in the music video. It also helps with continuity, so no clips shown further in the music video will seem out of place.
This over-the-shoulder shot is conforms to two conventions. It follows the conventions of boy/girl argument narratives found in general music videos, as it can show the reaction of the other character clearly and provide a variety of angles. Alternatively, it uses the convention that music videos should have a variety of shots anyway(despite the narrative line/genre) to provide a range of interesting viewpoints (during our research of mainstream music videos, we found that many are just filmed in studios, and relied on lighting, costume, and camera shots/angles to look interesting).In terms of challenging conventions, the music video develops them in a few subtle ways, and one very clear way. Firstly, one of our cameras shots/angle pans around the back of the band in one full circle. Often, this is not done because of crew around the set that would be shot too, and extra lighting off-camera, which if you are panning a full circle will inevitable, be included in the shot.
However, as we did not have extra lighting in the Quarry, or extra crew members, and the lighting was bright enough and no shadows we/the cameraman casted would be visible in the shot; it was possible. Although this shot only appears for a few seconds, it provides a creative aesthetic and suits the up-beat nature of the song.
AFTER
As shown above, another subtle way we develop conventions is the editing done of the clips. Most music videos create colours with the costumes and lighting, and only edit the video itself in terms of saturation if there was not enough light. However, we wanted to create an equally vibrant, stylised, and “cartoony” aesthetic to the video that would co-ordinate well with the clothes and back grounds (green screen) in the music video.
Although not deliberate, it could be argued that our used of green screen also challenges music video conventions. In the industry, green screen will be used to create any footage that would otherwise be too difficult/cost a lot of money practically. Such as jumping off a building and landing to the ground naturally, or to have the performer transported onto an alien space station. These things either need a large budget of money to build a realistic set, or months training to pull off the stunt on a zip-wire effectively. Music videos often have a tight budget, therefore artists resolve to green screen. However, our music video uses green screen for a simple background with a drawing on it, which in industry could be done on location in a studio where a wall is painted, or just actual backdrop is made. Hence, our use of green screen does not follow the conventions of how green screen is effectively used in industry. And finally, the most apparent challenge of music video conventions is the cut scene.
Performance and narrative is conventionally kept as separate “worlds” or areas in a music video. Here, in these few seconds, both narrative and performers interact with each other. Some artists do this, when they themselves are the performer and narrative character, and the music video consists of them singing towards the camera
Other artists do this briefly where the performer walks past the narrative characters (E.g. Pink - Perfect. The narrative character nods to Pink). But, our cut scene shows the narrative characters forcibly storming onto performance set, which is also symbolic of the pause in the song. It creates shock and surprise in the audience, going against the genre of music videos as a whole. As stated by media theorists Renee Wellek and Austin Warren, “the totally familiar and repetitive pattern is boring; the totally novel form will be unintelligible”. Hence, the cut scene in our “Just A Day” music video balances out both genre and variety, which was what we planned to do; conform to mainstream video conventions whilst portraying our personal creativity throughout.
The Magazine Poster Our “Just a Day” digipak advertisement poster conforms to poster conventions structurally more so than challenge them. The format of it is similar to many mainstream magazine posters, where there is a main image in the centre and information is at the bottom of the page. The information included is also a convention, in particular record label logo and website, and an image of the actual product (digipak) in the corner of the page. The use of colour is a typical convention, as bright, neon colours on a black background is eye-catching and regularly used in either pop-rock or electro-pop genres. The poster, however, does develop conventions if not challenge them. The image in the centre is a drawing, as opposed to an image of the actual band members. The reason why we did this was so that there would be direct link to the music video’s green screen background. Moreover, it is a reflection of our research into artists that also have illustrations in their work (Paolo Nutini, Feeder, Ok Go, and Gorillaz). The “OUT NOW” text is also a development of conventions, as dates are often specified but in terms of language we decided that “OUT NOW” had more impact visually.
The Digipak In terms of content, the digipak conforms to standard digipaks. It has a sleeve for the DVD, exclusive “behind-the-scene” pictures on the left, and the lyrics. There is the copyright logo, bar code, and feeder logo. In terms of format, there is also a link to the magazine poster through its colour scheme and layout of four colours in a block. However, it challenged layout conventions as well. There is no track listing (our 4 sided digipak is not for an album of music videos, just the single so this was not necessary) and there are images of the band members on the front and back cover. This was done for creative purposes, as we were working around the idea of “The band’s just-a-day”; the front image shows their “just-a-day” doing normal activities like brushing teeth. Then, the back image shows their “just-a-day” developed. The band members are posed in the exact positions as the front image, but instead of holding a toothbrush, it is replaced with a mic, to show the alternative side of their normal “just-a-day” as rock stars. Another challenge of convention, which was unintentional, is the band members themselves. Simon (purple) is not part of Terminal Moraine, nor is he ever featured with this band in the music video. However, for the sake of creating a link between the digipak and poster, we needed four images/ colours/squares, hence the necessity for an additional member.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
A level Media Show Case Questionnaires Results 2
A level Media Show Case Questionnaires Results 1
As you can see from the graph, the majority of feedback was positive and we succeeded in including a variety of shots, please our audience (who were of the desired demographic) and create a music video that was logical in its narrative.
For question 3, the majority answered "No" meaning that the balance of narrative and performance was just right. For more comments, refer to the second results post.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
A level Media Show Case
Below is an image of the questionnaire itself. (Click to enlarge)
The questions typed up (if image fails to enlarge):
1. Did you enjoy the music video? And why? (E.g. Did you laugh, smile, cry, or just walk away?)
2. Does the story line make sense? And why?
3. Do you think there should be more scenes of the two characters? (The arguing boy and girl) Why?
4. Do you think the video looks professional? And why?
5. Were the locations suitable for an alternative-rock music video? And why?
6. Do you think the styling of the performers is suitable for an alternative-rock music video? 7. Is the performance of the actors/musicians engaging?
(Please rate from 1-10)
8. Please look at the digipak/CD cover
Does it look professional? And why?
9. Please look at the digipak/CD cover
Does it suit the style of the music video? And why?
(E.g. in terms of colour scheme, font, images)
10. Please rate the overall music video out of 10.
11. Do you have any other comments about the music video and cover?
(E.g. Any improvements/changes that could be made?)