Personal Reflection of Project

I had a lot of fun with the project this year, but discovered there were a lot of stressful moments and A LOT went wrong. However, as a group we have coped well with all the troubles that occur ed. Although I strongly think that if I/we were to do this project again, we would do many things differently. Most of all, I would have done more work into the styling as I personally think it could have been planned better. And also work more with photo shop in terms of practicing before creating our subsidiary tasks, which would inevitably make them much better if we were more skilled in the software. The preparation for this project in terms of finding band members and scheduling has made me realise how tedious it is. As Jam was in charge of organising people in our last course work project, I didn't really realise that during filming and photo shoots it is an essential aspect that makes things a lot smoother to work with. Blogging was also another very tedious aspect, and if I were to do this again I would definitely keep entries going at a regular basis! Thank god this is done!

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

Blogger: Used for presenting all coursework and showing progression of product construction. Internet Explorer (AND Safari): Used for going onto google and other websites for information and images on digipaks, magazine adverts, and music videos. Also used to look at exemplar media blogs. Microsoft Word: For creating tables for scheduling. Microsoft Excel: For creating Gantt chart. Itunes: To listen "Just A Day". Lyrics.com: For lyrics embedment codes Wikipedia: Specifically to find information on Feeder's labels and discography Youtube: For research on music videos and embedment codes. Scanner: To scan in magazine poster examples, sketches on styling, and class notes. Paint: To annotate and create images such as the one above.

For specifically technologies used during green screen filming, click here

Scanner: To scan in the drawing used for the green screen background

Camera: To take photos for digipak front and back cover.

Photoshop: For creating the magazine advert and digipak.

iMovie: For uploading, editing, and exporting music video.

Camcorder: (Moby) For filming the footage we needed.

Garage band: For splitting the Just A Day audio.

Audacity: Same as above, however not used on final music video.

Itunes: For listening, and downloading the track.

Apple Mac: To use for apple software, and blogging during class time.

Da Fonts.com: Used for a quick and easy access to a variety of fonts. This helped make our product look more conventional to real products, which also fonts that may not necessarily be found on Microsoft word and therefore more individual in its packaging/presentation.

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?

Please click here for audience feedback posts

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 most noticeable link between the ancillary text/subsidiary tasks is the green screen background and the poster, which features the same drawing in different colours. The drawing itself links to the music video as it illustrates things we find are “Just A Day” such as a toothbrush, as well as instruments seen in the music video (the drum kit – which also links to the volunteered band, Terminal Moraine as there is a geographical terminal moraine drawn on the drum’s front). In the drawing, there is also a cartoon version of the photo frame featured in the music video, creating a textual reference. The colour scheme of the magazine poster is also linked to the digipak front and back covers in format; both have a black background with four bright colours. We made sure to position similar shades in similar corners to make the link clear with just a glance. Moreover, the font used in both poster and digipak is the same. Therefore, in this sense, the combination of the main product and ancillary texts is effective in terms of visual representation.

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?

The music video Overall, the music video conforms to rock music video conventions through the styling of clothes, aesthetic of the video through saturation editing, and the execution of performance and narrative. For example; as with many mainstream music videos, there is an amalgamation of performance and narrative, distributed evenly throughout the video. This relates to “Reassurance” from the Uses and Gratifications theory, that suggests audiences will enjoy a form of media more if it is similar to what they are used to and therefore, reassuring them.

The styling of our music video is also using the convention of the rock genre. The clothes of the performers and characters show old denim, band merchandise (although not their own, but this is not noticeable in the video), and leather, therefore allowing the audience to recognise features of the genre the through the clothing, creating emotional connections with it on a surface level because it is expected. This, in turn, also applies to the Uses and Gratifications theory.

Another way our music video conforms to conventions is the camera angles and shots shown at certain times of the song. The audience expects to see a clip of a drummer when drumming is most evident in the song. They expect to see establishing shots at the beginning of the music video, and low angled close ups of the guitarist. “Just A Day” follows all the examples given, as it make the video aesthetically pleasing, as well as making it recognisable to anyone that it is meant to be a music video, as opposed to a random viral video clip with music.

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.

BEFORE

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.

A level Media Show Case Questionnaires Results 2

Originally, these images were on a slide share PowerPoint, but the upload failed multiple times. Please click on image to enlarge (recommended)

A level Media Show Case Questionnaires Results 1

(Click on images to enlarge)
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.