Evaluation Question 4

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

The technology we used throughout the course includes, a HD camera, a Mac G5 computer and macbook Pro Retinas with the programs on them such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects and Photoshop. These pieces of software and hardware have influenced our project very heavily as they have enabled us to produce pieces of coursework to our best ability without the restriction of the quality of technology used. By using these we were able to create lots of effects such as editing the entire music video, by cutting the clips on Final Cut Pro which allowed us to cut to the beat and use different sections of footage whenever we wished to or thought it would best fit the song. If technology were not so advanced as it is now, we would have met met a series of problems such as:

  • if not for new media technologies The special effects in our video from After Effects could not exist, there would be no such thing as colour correction of the clips or overlapping effects which creates a more interesting image int the music video to keep to the indie genre of our song. If this didn’t exist the result would be that our video would suffer in quality and technique. We wouldn’t have had any of layering or fading effects making the base of the video very boring to watch by the audience.
  • Without social networking such as Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter many of us would not have been able to post the surveys that we made at the beginning of the course that would help us decide what people thought would best suit our indie genre of song. If we didn’t have these sites, the variety of people that our survey would go to, would be limited as it would have to be sent by email or physically presented to people, which would have taken much longer and wouldn’t have got such as good result as using a social media site. We would also have had to advertise our music video using posters or leaflets in order for people to see it. Producing these would cost money where as advertising online is completely free and is an easy way to quickly communicate with your friends as it would also be easily spread throughout the internet, whereas if posters were made they would only be seen in the area in which you placed them in. Also by being our friends, they would be more likely to partake in helping distribute and making the videos by liking them or sharing them on social networks or by tweeting links to the videos on twitter.
  • If we didn’t have Final Cut we would have to use the ‘crash editing’ technique. You do this by using two tapes and cutting from these instead, completely skipping the use of editing programs which would make life a lot more difficult and would make the video less effective as we wouldn’t be able to create overlays and effects on the footage. We would also have to me a lot more selective with our filming as we wouldn’t be able to use all of the footage due to the amount of work that would have to go into cutting the film manually, meaning we could miss some of the better, more important footage.
  • The HD cameras are also much more effective than the DV cameras. They produce a much higher quality of video improving the overall look as they can focus on multiple or singular objects increasing the depth of field. Using DV cameras produces a much more grainy image quality. Also HD cameras, such as cannon allow you to change the ISA of the camera, which means that you can change the brightness of the footage depending on what you want.
  • By using websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, we were able to broadcast our final products to an enormous audience as these websites span across the entirety of the internet and are commonly known around the world for watching music videos. It stops us just being able to reach a local audience as immediately becomes viewable worldwide. If these websites didn’t exist then we would have to show the video to a media producer/advertiser to get it public in any way which may cost us money or we would have to agree to their advertisements in our music video, such as product placement; as well as leaflets, posters etc. Feedback can also be given in the form of YouTube comments and Facebook feedback, rather than us having to show it to an audience and them to log their feedback which is a easy and quick way to get feedback. However this an be negative because if someone posts a negative criticism about the music video we wouldn’t be able to remove it, and everyone else is also able to read it as well as us.

Evaluation Question 3

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What have you learned from your audience feedback? Class Feedback…

We went through everyones coursework during 2 lessons and we all commented on everyones work. We wrote down on what we liked about their products and also some constructive criticism. Once we had seen everyones we uploaded our feedback onto our A2 class feedback wiki so that the group could read and access the class feedback. All my class mates really liked our Digipak and Poster as well as our film. They said that we should add some more active clips of the persona moving in the garden, like the shots of her eating the sweets, as at the moment they seem to be a bit too static and they need to look more like a hallucination. They also thought the shot at the end of the song, where the artist wakes up from the dream would be better if it started with sharp shots and slows down showing that the ‘drugs’ are wearing off, thus highlighting the end of the song. They also thought we should add some more steady shots of her at the beginning of the music video as it would emphasise the contrast between her pre and drug-induced state, making it easier to understand the concepts within the music video.

Digipak Feedback… People in general really liked my digipak and didn’t feel that there was anything I needed to change. They also really liked my booklet as it goes really well with the main digipak as it wasn’t too complicated but involved the concept of the sweets and they also liked the link between the inner cover of the digipak and the lyric sheets. People said that the back cover of my digipak didn’t really match the front cover. They said that the colour scheme didn’t really work either, and that I should find a new influence. I solved this by using the polaroid camera effect on the images, and using the same effect ‘August’ on all of the images so that they all had the same colour scheme. I also originally hadn’t designed a CD. After having feedback that I should design a CD to add the finishing touches to the digipak, I did. So first I tried using the logo for the artist as the CD, although I found that it didn’t fit in with the rest of the digipak as it was too plain and the white background contrasted the the green that run throughout the digipak too much. They thought that the aged effect worked well, especially with the style of the music, and that the background went well with the ‘indie style’ of the music video. They also thought that the digipak had a good design, which makes getting the CDs and booklets easily accessible.

Social Networking Feedback…  we also uploaded our music video to my youtube channel which I could then post a link on Facebook for my friends to view and give their feedback as they are our target audience. As you can see from some of the comments shown above, my friends were quite impressed with our music video and generally really liked it. They thought that maybe in some places the video was a bit jumpy and needed to be a little smoother. There were also parts where it looked obvious that Becky wasn’t actually singing the song in the lip-syncing shots as her lips don’t quite move in time with the song or she mouths the wrong lyrics. To fix this we changed the character of the lip-sync person to be Nanneke; and she was dressed as a clown to create a childish theme. We made sure to film the lip-syncing more accurately so to make the video more realistic.

Wix Website Feedback… To help present the artist to a broader audience, we decided to create a website to help promote the music and the tour dates of the artist. Generally the feedback for the website was positive, although some people thought that the background of the homepage needs to be more interesting so that it helps represent the genre of the music as being indie. Also they commented that the link to twitter on the website wasn’t working as it would just re-direct you back to wix website, so we managed to embed the link to the twitter page that I made for Alysia Jarrett. Also they said that they liked how I made a Facebook page and a sound cloud as well to support the artist that you can click on from the website. Although, it was commented that the gallery on the website needs to include more images as it is a bit bare, so I went out and took more pictures that I thought went well with the genre of the music video.

Evaluation Question 2

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

We did a lot of free-hand filming, and rarely used the tripod. We wanted to a more eccentric and dream-like feel to the video; and if we used the tripod, it would have been too robotic and statue-like. We filmed a huge range of shots, from extreme close-ups, to overhead shots, to long-range. This meant that there was a variation of things that the audience could see in each different shot, and they could also see what they were supposed to focus on at that particular moment. 
However, we focused mainly on extreme close-ups. We filmed many different shots of sweets, flowers and of our main younger actress. This meant, that in the editing process we could get some close-up stills of all of the different aspects of our music video. We then used these stills on both our website and digipak. Furthermore, we used colour contrast effects on after effects to brighten different scenes of the video; therefore bright colours are a recurring theme throughout all of the ancillary texts.

We edited the photos to all have a lighter, warmer feel to them for the digipak design. For this, we used the polaroid effect app. This created the mood of the song which we chose ‘Sleepyhead’ because it is electronic and indie, and quite light-hearted. In the digipak we used stills taken from all of our different filming and different scenes we shot from our video. This ties in the digipak to the video; creating a link between the artist and the digipak; as there aren’t any photo’s of the artist on the digipak. This is because many indie artists that we researched maintained a degree of anonymity.

The website is quite different, however there is still a running theme of using the same photographs throughout the website as to interlink the themes. We continued to use the close-up stills throughout the website, including one as the background picture. Also, the website uses a lot of pale colours, and has a majority white background; which provides a simple design which can be linked with both the main product and the digipaks. In the website, links to social media were created; which created a much more prominent profile for the artist. Therefore, in these social media pages, the digipak and video artistry is used frequently, connecting all three of our ancillary texts.

Therefore, the use of colour and extreme close-up stills throughout the ancillary texts create obvious links to the artist whilst retaining a degree of anonymity. These links between the ancillary texts help to promote the artists image, and would boost their profile and sales.

Evaluation Question 1

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

1. Through the use of actor

When researching other music videos of similar genres we discovered that the focus was mainly on the story line, and not the artist themselves.  Because of this we decided to use Amelie Robinson (8 years old) as the main character in our music video as this young character was a key aspect to our narrative.The typical conventions for an indie music video tends to be summer scenery and a young indie female. However Dominic Strinati highlights how unfamiliarity is becoming increasingly more popular and in order to be recognised and remembered there must be something different to your particular piece of work. Because of the favourable concept of familiarity within genres (Steve Neale’s theory) we decided to include elements from both theorists in order to appeal to our target market whilst also challenging the forms and conventions of media products of similar genres in order to achieve recognition. We used the conventional summery setting of a garden, however used the rather uncommon young actress as the main character. The simple clothing of a clean white t-shirt and unripped jeans represent her innocence and youth as the older version of herself, Alysia Jarret (18 years old) shown at the beginning of the video wore ripped jeans and a dirty white t-shirt, representing the character change.

Music Videos with similar elements

‘First Aid Kit’ shows the expected and familiar young indie female which most indie genres music videos focus on. However artists such as ‘Sia’ similarly use a child actress to represent herself. This diverse choice of actor makes her music videos interesting and unique as it is unusual and distinctive. Whereas ‘Foster the People’ have a variety of different music videos featuring different elements, however each has its own individual twist making it stand out against the others. The wide variety of different music videos within the same genre proves that Dominic Strinati’s theory is becoming increasingly more popular which is why we chose to include this unexpected character.

2. Through the use of of Locations 

Our music video consisted of two main locations, a messy bedroom and a light colourful garden. This was the aspect of our music video that we decided to associate with typical conventions in order to comply with Steve Neale’s theory that familiarity pleases peoples interests. Before filming we researched various music videos with similar locations such as Passion Pits bedroom location for Carried Away which achieves a more personal feeling, something that we also wanted to achieve. Then the music video for ‘Why won’t you make up your mind’ by Tame Impala is set in an open field and manages to create a summery and care free feel due to the weather and the colourful and airy setting. The effects these two locations obtains is what we needed to achieve in our own music video and was therefore the most appropriate location.

3. Through the conventions of music videos (Andrew Goodwin)

Andrew Goodwin’s theory consists of 6 principles, most of which can be seen in our music video

  1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
  2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
  3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
  4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)
  5.  There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
  6. There are often intertextual reference
  1. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

Throughout the music video there are not any specific lyrics which directly and literally link to the music video, however the actual collective meaning of the song can be related to the narrative. When looking at the lyrics to the song there were many different interpretations, however as a group we all made the link that the song is related to effects of drug/alcohol abuse. We interpreted the song to be about a person to be in a state of anxiousness and unease, unable to deal with their surroundings, which relates to the lyrics of the song “You were one inch from the edge of this bed”. It also describes how the person is feeling, whether this is literal or a metaphor/symbolic, however the lines “you said, it was like fire around the brim/ Burning solid, burning thin the burning rim/ Like stars burning holes right through the dark/ Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes” make it seem like the character is uneasy and uncomfortable, almost hallucinogenic, again relating back to the drug aspect. In the music video we portrayed these feelings of uneasiness through the whole narrative itself as we included elements of innocence and naivety and the change when comparing the older character to her dream state mind in which she is a child, and the sweets themselves which indicate drug use and addiction.

2. There is a relationship between music and visuals

During the music video there are a wide variety of shots which change in time with the beat.  There is clapping, strong beats and repeated sounds that are played throughout the song, and the shots which change to the beat of the music build tension and make the video seem more connected to the song itself as it reflects the atmosphere of the music. This changing of the shots in time with the beat of the music also puts emphasis on the song itself and the unique beats which help define the genre of the song.

3. Videos demonstrate genre characteristics

The indie genre of the music video can be identified throughout the general narrative of the music video as it is fairly diverse and has unique features in order to comply with Dominic Strinati’s theory. The props and character choice add to this genre characteristic as they help to make the video look more unusual and identifiable. Having a main character that is not the artist themselves also creates a mysterious form of identity, and despite this being one of Goodwin’s 6 principles, when researching other indie artists and their music videos, they too seemed to retain their identity, creating a more illusive image and adding to the genre characteristic.

4. Conventions and forms within our ancillary tasks 

For our Digipak to comply with the typical conventions of real media products within the same genre for digipaks I needed to include similar elements that we as a group identified in the digipaks we researched e.g. two door cinema club, foster the people, Bombay bicycle club. Our research indicated that we needed to include a flowing and vivid colour scheme that would run throughout and also include simple bold fonts that would be easy to read for the audience and also match up throughout the digipak. I believe that our digipak matches all of these requirements and successfully portrays the artists indie genre whilst appealing to the audience as we chose a vintage, polaroid style for each of the images and used a basic bold font which stood out against the backgrounds. By not including images of the artist themselves, this again creates a more mysterious image which helps define the indie genre.

Website – We also created our own website for the artist. The conventions that we discovered through researching other websites of similar genres, such as Mumford and Sons, Tame Impala and Vampire Weekend, were that including social media links are key, and there should be an obvious link between the digipak and the website which both relate to the artist. Also again, a common feature with indie artists were that there was not many obvious direct link to the artist themselves as they tended to not include their image on the website itself but instead had gallery and videos pages, bringing a personal touch and making the viewer feel more engaged with the artist. We also needed to make the website interesting and colourful, however not too busy that it would distract or confuse the viewer, because of this we chose to make our website fairly simplistic and edgy. On the website we have included various songs from the artist, pictures, merchandise and the CD itself in order to help promote the artists music.

Construction of Film

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This is a short video to show how we all worked together as a group in order to produce our music video. It includes multiple different sequences with lined together in order to make the music video, such as the process of making the lip syncing and the different angles we used to film our final video.

Website

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As a group we split up the music video, the digipak and the website. Holly Shrimpton made a website for the artist ‘Alysia Jarrett’ although as a group, we gave feedback to improve and alter each others work in order to make it better. She also created various social media links.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AlysiaJarrett97?fref=ts

Twitter – https://twitter.com/AlysiaJarrett

Sound cloud – https://soundcloud.com/alysiajarrett97

Artist Website – http://08shrimptonh.wix.com/alysiajarrett97