Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

This video clips shows how we have used conventions by referencing real indie/emo/rock bands and mimicking their forms eg heavy performance, CU of instruments, band on cover etc; how we have developed them by having an amplified narrative with performance and challenged them by including features such as a female and low buget set

Question 2:How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

media products and ancillary texts

this video explains how we used synergy between our media products to create a really interactive campaign to target our young audience and effectively promote the band

Question 3:What have you learned from your audience feedback?

we have learnt from our audience feedback that there is a slight difference between who we in tended to target and who we actually targeted:

we intended to target:
16-24 year olds

both genders

very into there music (eg in a band)

music part of their identity (dresscode social group)

fans of indie/emo rock music

consume music online and through live gigs

we found out that we targetted:

both genders

fans of other genres - inc. RnB and heavy metal

consume mainly on online streamline

music appricators

However after looking at our audience feedback, we discovered that we had a slightly wider/different appeal as we appealed to a secondary audience of people of the same age - but who are fans of a different genres.

this pie chart illustrates how we have appealed to both genders pretty evenly - which we tried to do by having both males and females in the band.

Our feedback also showed that people favoured certain band members, showing we achieved both narscasistic pleasure with women and izzy and a sexual appeal with women and Tom. 



This graph indicates that we sucessfully communicated the genre of the band/song as most of our target audience selected the words indie - emo - and rock to describe the video

this graph suggests that our target audience primarily stream things online or illegally download music. therefore we learnt that to speciffically target oour album and single to them we should have a large online emphasis to our campaign , which we have done by putting a link to buying our album online and by placing an MP3 version of the song on Spotify.Another favourite method of consumptions is via live gigs - which we have promoted in our TOURS web page

(dom made the graphs as part of our group evaluation)

Question 4:How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

We used new technologies in all stages of our production - including planning, production and editing. the clip shows how we used colour change, colour pass, chroma key, brightness and contrast and rotascoping on Adobe Premier Pro to create our distinctive orange on black and white performance



our canon HD video camera was a key piece of equipment when making our music viedo as we were able to easily shoot in very high quality in uncontrolled environment. this gave very proffesional resulta especially when used with a tripod and floor and studio lights



during the production of both our music video and album cover, we used proffesional studio and floor lights in combination with effects such as brightness and contrast(within Photoshop and Adobe to create really vibirant colours and proffesional looking products. we also used http://www.wix.com/ - a website where you can create your own flash website really easily (drag and drop) - www.wix.com/erwinsfelicide/music. this helped make our website really interactive and full of cross media convergence - which is suitabke for our demanding and technologically apt audience. we also used an MP3 version of the song on the online music layer and whilst editing to allow us to use it across media platforms not just on a CD player.

 in our evalutation stages we used much of the same hardware and software to create our answers - such as Adobe on computers, plus importing images from the internet for Q1 and 2. the clip from Q3 also shows how we used the camera to film our audience response, whereas the clip shows us using a camera and tripod to and a projector during the screening.

Website Signed Off

today was a great day as our website was signed off meaning that all our production is done!!!!!!!

im really imopressed with our website as it contains lots of mixed media content and links to lots of different sites (our facebook, youtube twitter etc)

click on the link at the top to see our finished website

now we can focus on our evaluation - without worrying about have to do any more editing

Finished Music Video

Hooray - weve finished our music video after hours and hours and hours of effects and rotoscoping. I do think the orange and black and white looks very strong and it compliments and contrasts our narrative footage. Hopefully it will go down well at our screening on tuesday which we have advertised via facebook, word of mouth and even posters

our finished product is at the top of the page

Album Cover Finished

Weve finally signed off our album cover and it looks really good. We were really pleased about the image on the back cover as it is a beautiful action shot. Intially we werent sure if we could make it work with the song titles and institutional information as there wasnt much space on the picture - but after alot of regiging we managed to make it work. I was also please that we got our logo, website and record company on the cover as it links the products together to help brand the band. I also think our logog looks very proffesional as it is simple but clear and memorable.

look at the top to see our finished product 

Ongoing Production Work

we are currently doing alot of intesive work on all three of our media products. the plan is for me and dom to focus on the album cover in our lessons and for wanda and claire to focus on the website in theirs. in addition to this we will each take it in turns to edit our sequence both in and out of lessons

us editing effects on our video

Album Cover and Website Photoshoot

our photoshoot went really well yesterday we got a wide variety of shots and everyones costume looked right (each in a different bright colour, fancy shoes). the aim is to use 3 pictures for the album and one key one for the website homepage. we also want to use a picture of each band member for their about us page on the website.

here are some samples from yesterdays shoot

the next step is to add effects like brightness and contrast to all shots to make them look proffessional

Ongoing Editing

As we've now gathered all of our footage, were going to make a rough cut of our sequence. We learnt from our prelim and research to create a whole performance only sequence before slotting in the narrative on top. with this layering effect we should get the best form both halves of our video.

Performance Shoot

Our performance shoot went really well and everyone gave lots of energy until the very end. we tried to use lots of moving shots to give us lots of variety and include a range of shots for all the band members. there was no problems with the playback and we decided to utilise our lights fully by having a blue background

pictures of us during and after performance shoot

Preparing Performance Shoot

Again we have used facebook to organise meetings with everyone involved and managed to get 2 helpers for hair and makeup

We have booked the seward studio for afterschool on tuesday, and are going to set it up our free lessons beforehand. We have been loaned equipment by the music department and guitars from a friend. Again we have made a shooting scheduale and shot list

Here is a picture of us with our planning paperwork including sketches of costume, calendar and mind map

Planning Performance Shoot

to contrast our homemade/guerilla narrative shoot - we want our performance to look as proffesional as possible. we have already sorted out the costumes for our band and plan those quite carefull. we have learnt from our theory to include plenty of extremes(wides and ECUs) particularly emphasising the instruments to signify our genre.

here are some shots of izzy and anguses planned costume

we are looking at similar style videos to look at  the choreography of the band while playing. in fact we got quite into rehersing the movement of the band

Narrative Shoot

the narrative shoot seemed to go quite - but we we stopped form filming in many of our locations, but we did grab at least 1 shot in every location. i was really pleased with the look of our antagonists and everyone kept going right through the day.

Storyboard

we have been working on our story board which consists of post-it notes of each individual shot. we then placed these on a timeline (0:00 - 3:30, length of music track). we did this after our location reccie so we knew exactly what we wanted each narrative shot to look like. to this we added shot ideas for our performance shoot and interweaved it with the narrative at appropriate moments. this will really help us when filming as we can use it to show us and our actors the framing/type of shot that we want to achieve.

performance shots: image, distance and description

narrative shots: label, image, description

organising Narrrative shoot

here is our shooting schedule, shot list for our narrative shoot.

We used facebook to organise meetings for the people envoloved to tell them where to go when and what to do. our test location reccie was very helpful here as we could show our actors exactly what shot we wanted to achieve very clearly and effectively

Planning the Narrative shoot

we are aiming to shoot the narrative half of the video during half term for this we had to finalise a look for our antagonists, we got our general idea of  head to toe in white from brainstorming ideas. once this was decided, we were able to get the antis costumes (white trousers, T shirt, white braces, black boots and gloves) and practice our face paint ideas

heres our mind map of potential ideas

we referenced both these charatcers in clockwork orange combined with similar face paint to the joker in black night

heres a picture of us mapping out where each antagonist will enter the video

We did a lyric breakdown to help us with this and what should happen at each line of the song

reflections on reading

WHAT IVE LEARNT
-classic memorable album covers have been stand out and different
-their mai aim is to sell the music (and artist) sothereforeneeds to contain some conventions such as artists name,album song and often an image of the artist
-genreis veryimortant when selling the album
-it needs to enticethe audience by being shocking or have iconic images
-soemthing linked to the artist is often used such a sa reacurring logo or colour scheme throughtoutthe markting campaign


TIPS
-selective about info on frontcover
-think about denotation forms and conventions when desgining the cover
-look at ALOT of videos
-exchange contact details
-avoid shots of people just walking around
-shoot plenty of material
-Plan everything - storyboard props etc
-check for silly mistakes such as recording without the tape etc
-bring CD player to mime to
-use effects sparingly
-shoot performance  all the way through
-get feedback throughout process - from peers and others
-dont make excuses
-relate to real examples
-include ots of technical language


WEBSITE
-lots of links to other instittions like myspace,youtub,faceboko
- easy navigation through menus etc
-direct interactivity with audience through blogs etc
-links to other artworkand different elements of the marketing campaign  - video tours etc

Reflections on Reading Posts

Assesment
         RESEARCH AND PLANNING - level 4
-research similar products (anaylisising music videos - theory)
-research potential target audience (consumtion habits, likes, dislikes, core, secondary - audience profile)
-brilliant organistation (proven by shotlogs, scripts, storyboards etc)
-good time management (shown by above and by regualr meetings and bloggings
-care in presentation (pictures, colour, video, clips, sound - interesting and visual)
-use of IT and digital skills (lots of mised media on blog)
-communication (regular blogs to communicate with group and expressing how its all going)

        PRODUCTION - level 4
using skills below in an effective but creative way
-a steady shot
-framing
-variety of distances
-filming appropriate/relevant footage
-MES
-editing to create meaning
use of sound and image

Each group member needs to contribute to the group project - use labels to identify individual work on group blog

Evaluation
Key Points
-forms and conventions
-synergy between video - album cover and website
-audience feedback
-use of new media technologies
          PLUS
-ability to communicate
-use of digital technolgies (within the evaluation itself)

excellent understanding of all these sectors = Level 4 answer

Paperwork
all paper work needed is linked to the blog for pre - pro and post production

Blogging
       GROUP
-regular blogs
-ongoing evidence of tasks and skills shown including continuing research
-show progress, change and development of ideas
-title posts and give appropriate name labels
-lots of communication
-links to claire, dom, wanda and music video blog
-links to final and acillary products
-clear to edit and browse posts (correct labelling)
-group style of blog and group photo

     INDIVIDUAL
-regular posts
-ongoing individual research
-summaries of contributuion to project and its development
-reflections
-communication between teachers (and group - though most of this will be through group blog)
-links to group blog plus cliare, wanda, doms and music video blog
-labbeling-  research planning evaluation
-links to external websites (eg latymer tube)
-easy to edit and browse
-individual style

Plagarism
make sure all work throughout the project is your own - do not lift material from proffessional sources or from other students or any other people

feedback from presentation

i was pleased with how our presentation went as its seemed to flow quite well and we included most of the important information recuired.

we also managed to do quite alot of work on developing and expanding our blog and securing our ideas

the feedabck we were given seems quite constructive so i hope we can use it to further improve and develop our idea

Development on antagonists

http://www.zimbio.com/Painting/articles/149/Face+Painted+Art+Amazing+fish+face

website and marketing campaign

olly murs - please dont let me go

1)institutions - youtube facebook twitter myspace appeling to a young technology poliferant interactive and viralaudience
    HMV amazon- promote CD sells
2)functions - advertises, promotes identity, word of mouth, audience feedback, interacting audience, show and advertise new material

3) indie, young, carefree, romantic? -,uses pictures, colours, music, links to institutions and costume eg girl guide finale=appeal to girls

4) young mainly female 12-22, also indie audiece but quite mainstream- facebook friends, events - girl guides

5) pictures of him, interactive, lots of social networking which is very popular amongst teens eg this ones for the girls competiton and constant tweets from artist - connection

6) viral, word of mouth, promote single video, prommote sngle, promote album, promote merchandise - print signing, tickets for events, social networking, videos, image, text, links

7) similar to above, buy song, event tickets and merchandise, links to music vid and album

8) big emphasis on the song itself

9) radio charts and especially internet are very important for TA as this is mostly how listen to/become aware of music with hte increase of youtube etc. live performance is also main source of income but as only beginging artsist probably single does better as hes not on tour as such. music tv also v important as is wathced alot by teenagers so gets wide publicity

Initial Idea No 2

the ting tings - keep your head

i liked the tempo of this song and thought it might allow for a fun experimental video. one idea for a gerneal concept would be that the lead singer is going a gig(or something) in a real setting - but is distracted by herself in her head  - which would be represented by long shots of various hers in self contained boxes being like children - wild throwing them selves about  - causing her head aches and movments. evntually she woul regain control of her head by trapping the smalll hers eg by throwing a net over them and wrapping them up in tape. this would be a mixture of performance and narrative used to amplify the lyrics

Initial Idea No 1

jamie cullum - we run things

i think this jazz track could be an interesting choice as it is something a bit unconventional and niche but its upbeat sound could still allow for a varied choppy and original video.

i thought we could mimic some jazz conventions by having say 4 people in ultra smart black and white tailored outfits such as macs, heels, shirts, waistcoats and hats, possibly with raybans on to make them look mysterious and important. off center ECUs of their attire could start off the music video. this would be the concept/narrative of the video. mean while a the singer would be performing alongside - maybe standing on a pile of newspapers to show hes rebelling against the media - which would be the general interpretation/concept of the song. this could be shown by the monochrome people stylistically shredding newpapers and snapping CDs etc. most of this begining bit would focus on black and white but colour could start to be introduced at the musical interlude by playing the piano keys with coloured fingertips and spots of colour leading to the monochromes spreading paint onto black and white backgrounds/rooms.

Vernallis Analysis - The Fray

The Fray - Over my Head

Narative

-quite balanced between narrative and performance (about 60% 40%)

-partial, and fragmented /intercut between the performance. not complete with no closure

-narrative is quite fluid but cut up alot

-narrative is a bit of a driving force but it is helped by the performance and the music

-bit of a montage style

Editing
-continutity is confused as its intercut with performance
-occasionally jump cuts by breaking 30degree rule
-quite obvious cuts particularly during performance to highlight different instruments and break it up
-many cuts from CU - wide - ECU and cutting between narrative and performance
-cutting within lyrics
-a disrupted pace and not many matches on action

Camera movement and framing
-CUS and eXU very commmon and long shots
-slightly off centered framing
-camera moving with music and sometimes moves on the lyrics

Diegesis
-put straight into it with starting with the narratvie

-interupted actions

-alot of gaps in the narrative but less in time and space

-repetitiopn of lead singer singing

Goodwin analysis - The Saturdays

The Saturdays - Just Cant Get Enough

genre characteristics - this is quite a stereotypical girlband video involving small costumes, dancing, heavy makeup, stylised movement/posing, men looking etc

lyrics and visuals- mainly illustrative and possibly amphifying , quite stereotypical of a mainstream video

music and visuals - illustrative
CUs - some close up but more long shots of artists in poses - motifs include naming the satyurdays and there individual names establishing individual and group identity. also the repetition of bright colours in there video - one per person

looking- men looking towards women - girls looking at camera/playing to camera

intertexual - 30s 40s era - pin up shown through costume (men and women), hair, make up and props

Group Meeting

i am please with my group because as i have worked with them before i know theyre skills and strenghts i think we can work efficiently together. whilst 4 is quite a large group i think it will help generate ideas and be useful for dividing up tasks  - both the paperwork and on the shoot itself.

the group meeting was sucessful it was good hearing other peoples ideas and looking at there research. on the back of this i want to rtesearch some more genres of music and also think of my own more developed idea for a music  video and track to pitch as an alternative to our current ideas - just to give us more choice andf range as a group.

Initial ideas

i thought that something by Jamie cullum might be a good option as they are quite musical, but with clear lyrics and distinctive tune and sound.

The song "Wheels" gave me the idea of you could do something envolving colour as a focus. you could have wide shots of people in white painting in rainbow colours on a large white surface. As its quite slow paced you could have slow pans and long pans and tracks. this could be intercut with say a black and white simple performance of the male artist.

i think this is my favourite opion so far though it would need alot of development i think it has the potential to be quite creative.

Album cover analysis

-collage effect

-black and white pictures and text

-rough ripped style, bit hand made with overlapping suare pictures

-capital letters

-bold square/straight letters

-white text on black background

-title just above centre - song tracks in center

-text anchores the band has made a film

-anchors name of band

FRONT - attention grabbing, targets audience, clips of band

BACK - showing songs (number and length)

INSIDE - show band

-iconography presents band as quite a tough, hard, masculine and impersonal band as there is no colour and lots of straght edges and capital letters.

-it doesnt say much about the genre of music or the band as there is little description on the CD - possibly as it relies on the movie to promote the band more than the CD

- the CD cover implies that this is the bands first and only album as it doesnt have a album title or anything like that

-it doesnt overly sell/promote the CD it just states the name of the band and that it is music from the film. this implies that maybe the CD is primarily targeted to the fans of the film rather than a new audience - specialist/ niche audience

Genre signifiers - rock and RnB

50 cent - Candy shop

chains, v baggy sports tops, canted trucker hats, fur coat, diamond earing, sports car, black male artist, rapping (not singing), sexy women in underwear, lots of women, dancing, small tight (matching) costumes, dance routines - women performance, very sexual tatoo, voyeristic, slowed down, make up/done up women, muscles tatoos, pendulums, duet/collaboration, suggestive dancing, posing

Guns n Roses - Welcome to the Jungle

white males with long scruffy backcombed hair, tight leather trousers, guitars, tattos, wild movements and playing, losing control, playing to large crowd, lots of performance, big erratic gestures, dark set, crowd in black clothes long guitar solo, long shots of playing instruments, screams, camera pans, sweat, dark eyes, black wrsitbands, strong exposed lights, top hat, leather jacketmovingmicrophone, low narrative, band interaction, fast zooms, long and varied song, highly instrumental

Poetential song ideas

i thought these two videos were good options as they are quite upbeat songs with clear lyrics. however i think that they may be modern as both of the artist are quite well known - even though the songs are not.

ting tings - keep your head



adele - right as rain

Intertexuality 2

in madonnas video "Beautiful Stranger" features Ausitn Powers. i think this is intertexuality as she is referencing him as a character in acosiation with his films - even though she is not taking on the conventions or signifiers of Austin Powers itself.






this intertexuality of popular culture would give a wider appeal to the video as it would attract both mainstream fans of madonna and slightly alternative fans of Austin Powers.

the inclusion of this intertexuality makes it a comic video and gives it a loose narrative - which gives it another layer to just madonna performing - though that is a main part of the song

Intertexuality

Red hot chilli Peppers music video of Dani California shows intertexuality of decades. Below are stills from the video showing the band performing in different styles/fashoin of music throughout the ages. it starts off - also focusing on different genres as well as eras

-in the 50s black and white

-scycadelic 60s

-glam rock

-heavy metal

-today rocky

these intertexuality references are very reflective of fashoins and what was popular at different times over the past 60 years. they show this manly through costume and the stage rather than the narrative or story

i dont think in this instance the audinece is directly reffered to other texts but it is more internal clues. if you did not recognise the glam rock costumes then you would not realise that it was copying that genre. Similarly i think it does depend on who is watching this video. for example an older person who had lived throughout these music changes (starting in the 50s) would probably identify the different music trends more than a younger person only listening to this decades music. however as the intertexuality is baised on well known eras (50s 60s 70s etc) then it should still 'work' for people in the near future as they will still be aware of those iconic references.

i think these intertextual references have changed the music video as it hasnt emphasised or interpreted the lyrics very much. the focus is on the changing settings rather than a narrative about the song reflecting what its about.

Album Cover Analysis

1) conventions
- background image, often a person/face
-name of band/artist
-name of album
-capital letters
-use of colour
-photos
-plain background

2) categorising
- faces + people vs other
-abstract/cartoon vs photos
-black background vs other

3) Purpose
-advertising the artist and their music
- to sell the CD
-to give some (visual) identity/image to the band
-to hint at the type of music in the album
-to distinguish the different albums/music from the same artist

Reflection and Anaylsis of Chosen Tracks

1) How do you listen to music?
-domestic setting, family and friends
-alone on the computer
-live gigs with lots of people
-converged/with other media like musicals, sporting events

2)Pleasures associated with music?
- evoke emotions
-widening breadth of genre, culture or knowledge of artists
-reminiscent - events, key points in life, childhood
- familiarity of artists/genres
-experimenting and discovering new genres and ideas (taking out of comfort zone)
-appriciation of music eg as a performer/musician

3) Different music needs at different times of the day?
-getting up - louder beat in morning
-motivational when exercising
-relaxing and slower in evening
-background when eating/other activities



4) Where did the choices come from?
-personal experiences such as trips, concerts, key life events, first __
-convergence of other media like films/musicals
-growing up - discovering different music and refining taste
-sibling and peer influences
-cross over hobbies like sports and dancing
-mainstream hits

5)Relevance to project?
- understanding audiences and what music means to them
-what needs audiences have and how to fulfill them
-the role of music in peoples lives and in wider society
-recognising the interrelaiton between music and other forms of media and institutions

Research for potential Track

Below are some of the tracks and/or bands that i have researched and thought might be suitable for this project. however, i havent had any real ideas or insiration from them. also they are all quite a similar conventional genre so im not sure would allow for a really creative unique video. bascially, i think we can do better.

-ting tings - keep your head

-blues brothers

- eliza dolittle album tracks

- adele - thats it i quit, right as rain

-The Band Perry / The Wreckers

-Sara Bareilles

Autobiographical Tracks

Childhood I vividly remember loving Shain Twain "Man I Feel Like a Woman". I once did a drama club type thing and this was always the song to which we did a little dance routine warm up . I remember thinking the song was really cool and energetic, which made me really enthusiatic about dancing to it. So I picked the song as it makes me think back to just having a lot of carefree fun in my younger years.

Shain Twain - Man I Feel Like A Woman

Early TeensI chose "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chilli Peppers which i first heared in year 7 on our school trip to cwm in Wales. We listened to alot of this band on this trip, which Ienjoyed as I hadnt really gotten into music that much at this stage. This and a few other of specific songs by them really summed up the trip for me. It also introduced me to a much wider range of songs and genres and inspired me to take a more active interest in music.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Under The Bridge

Today I think this was the hardest track to pick - but I chose "cry me a river" by Ella Fitzgerald (though it has been covered by many artists). Whilst this isnt nesecarily my favourite song, it was the first song I did when I started my singing lessons. Learning it and listening to it made me more aware of the soul/blues/jazz singing that I found I really enjoyed. In particular it introduced me to Ella Fitzgerald and similar artists like Louis Armstrong, who I think do some really nice songs and duets like "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me". but this song has particular significance as it reenforced and reegnighted my fondness for this type of music.

Ella Fitzgerald - Cry Me A River

Factors to consider when choosing a music track

In the Sun Lip Sync

here is me bianca and dominic practicing lip syncing to In the Sun by She and Him

lip sync to Glee - Dont Stop Belevin

Prelim Evaluation - Question 1

In mondays workshop I learnt lots of about behind the scenes of a film set such as how to connect up pieces of equipment like the lights and the camera to the monitor. I learnt how the camera and lighting crew work by constantly tweaking and adapting to get the desired affect (heavily influenced by the director). It was also interesting to see how each of the crew members work as a team in order to function efficently and get the best footage. I discovered that proffessionally, your work alot faster than we have done in previous shoots because with that much equipment and people you need to stick to you scheduale. Similarly, you need to be more descisive whilst making sure you have everything you need. It was interesting to see the cheats and make-shift products in filming such as a wheelchair with a board and tripod taped onto it.

Prelim Evaluation - Question 2

                                                      

The one of the best bits of the day was perfomring in front of the camera earlier on as there was lots of energy and enthusiam. But it was even better watching the other group perform and seeing how the camera and lighting helped influence the look of shots.

 

I enjoyed working behind the camera as you saw the different roles and areas working together. Talking to camera, lighting and directing team gave me a real insight into what professional work in the industry would be like.