Evaluation Question 4

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

The technologies used for our coursework include Blogger and YouTube. Blogger is used as a way to present all of our work in one place in an easily understandable order. I find that Blogger makes it much easier for me to keep my work organized and makes it easier for me to know which pieces of work are completed. As I have used Blogger before on previous coursework, I already had an understanding of how it worked, meaning that I didn’t have to spend time getting to grips with how to used it. I was able to use Blogger to my best ability as the layout makes it very simple to know exactly where everything is. One of the most convenient things about Blogger is how easy it is to embed files from other sites such as YouTube meaning that everything can be in one place.

To design the digipak and magazine advert, I used Photoshop. After taking the photographs, with a Nikon DSLR camera, that would be used within our digipak, we put them into photoshop and altered some of the colours and added filters that we thought were relevant to assist in making our digipak and magazine advert tie in better with our music video. I already had prior knowledge of photoshop so took on most of the work in this area. The other members in my production group assisted in the decision making of what we wanted our digipak and magazine advert to look like.

When filming our music video, we used a tripod and Sony HD camera. This camera shoots footage in a high quality meaning that we could get the best possible result for our music video. The camera had the built in function of autofocus, but as a group we decided that we could get a much more accurate focus if we did this manually. This was very effective and we found that we could get a very crisp image. When filming the music video, we would all check the camera positioning and focus before pressing film to ensure that we were all happy with how it looked. We attempted to do a focus pull technique, but when it came to editing the footage, we decided that it didn’t fit with the video.

To edit our music video we began by looking into using Final Cut Express, but after many difficulties with our footage not importing, we decided that it would be best to at least make a start using iMovie. After we began the process of editing the footage using iMovie, we made the decision that we could do most of the thing that we wanted to include in our video on iMovie so decided against switching to Final Cut Express. To ensure that we got the best possible final result, we always referred back to our storyboard and shot list when filming and editing.

I decided to use Blogger to carry out my evaluation questions as it is the most convenient way of keeping all of the necessary information in a simple and easy to manage format.  

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From the feedback that we collected from our audience in the initial stages of production, we found that the majority of people asked liked the sped up shots that the used. They felt that it was visually very effective and also fit well with the chosen genre. As this feedback was collected in the very early stages of productions, we had a number of comments made about things that they felt we needed to change, such as some shots being too long and a few shadows in the background of shots.

Rough Cut 1


Audience Feedback

Good points:

• the speed up shots look good and fit the genre of the song
• the makeup looks good and works well
• the costume fits with the narrative of the video
• the camera is steady
• the effect used on the shot looks good
• the shots are well framed

Points to improve:

• more shots are the band are needed
• some shots are too long
• see some unintentional shadows in some clips
• music needs to be added
• add all clips to finish the video

Improvements we will be making to our next rough cut:

• To improve our music video we will film a large number of artist shots and more acting shots so we will have enough to finish the video
• we will also cut the length of some of the shots to keep the audience engaged in the video
• we will remove shots that do not work or have issues such as shadows and replace then with shots that will look good in their place
• we will also add music in the next stage of creating our music video

 Rough Cut 2

Audience Feedback

Good Points

• Lovely sped up shots.
• Good amount of cuts.
• Good guitar and drum shots.
• Good editing.
• like how the pace speeds up towards the end.
• like how it goes with the beat of the song.
• Locations fit the genre.
• Good angles of instruments.
• Creative editing.
• Good lip syncing.
• Editing matches the chaotic feeling.
• Flashing works well.
• Visuals to genre work perfectly together, definite style.
• Good use of different camera angles.
• The pace fit with the music.
• Costumes are well thought out.

Improvements

• Shadow moves across frame. We are going to re-edit this shot, we thought it looked good with the shadow but others thought it wasn't necessary.
• Some shots are too long. Once we have framed out the whole song we plan on editing some shots shorter and adding different new angles.
• First shot not relevant. We used the wrong part of the clip. We plan to change it and then see if people still find in irrelevant.
•  Lip syncing isn't in sync at the beginning. We need to cut the beginning of the shot where he breaths because that's what makes it seem out of sync.
• Some shots are darker the others. We plan on brightening the darker shots. But the band shots are intentionally brighter then the acting.
• A bit repetitive try a different location? We have another location planned and will hopefully be filming there before Rough Cut 3.

Evaluation Question 2

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

The themes used within our main product and ancillary texts link together directly from the continued use of similar colours and images. The band members are seen wearing the same costumes in the digipak images as in the video, this is a motif drawn from the bands stage costumes.

The most prominent aspect that links the music video, digipak and magazine advert is that the all include the image of the back of the straight jacket with 'I'm A Freak' cut into it. This is an iconic image that will be easily recognisable. It is the cover of the digipak so it makes sense that we would use this as the main aspect of the magazine advert as well. This visual is also the final shot of the music video meaning that the digipak and advert will be recognised from the video.

We decided that we would use the image of the lead singer (and only member who's face is shown in the video) holding the lens of the camera within the digipak. This is also another shot that is seen within the music video. The main reasoning behind wanting to use this image in the digipak is because in the image that shows the full band, you can only see his back, so this way the audience is able to see the band as a whole. The image of the band also allows the audience to connect the band members to the video even though they don't see their faces in the video. Since the bassist is wearing the same mask in the image as is seen in the backing vocal shots of music video.

The font used in the track listing is the same as the font that is used for the information on the magazine advert, the font used for the band name is the same every time is has been used to show consistency. We chose to use a different font for the information and tracklisting to the band name because we found that it was more legible for the areas with more text.

The filters used over the photos on the digipak and magazine advert give a similar effect to the 'old world' filter that we used in our music video. This allows the colours to be consistent throughout. We had to use a different location for filming the music video to that of the promotional images as we were unable to safely get the band and equipment inside. We didn't want to waste the photos as we were really happy with how they turned out so decided that they would be used within the digipak instead.


Digipak Design

CD Print Design

Magazine Advert


Evaluation Question 1

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

When creating our media product, we researched into the generic conventions used in real media texts from the same genre. This gave us a much greater understanding of what would be stereotypical for the audience to see within our product.

Our media product follows the generic conventions of our chosen genre from the way that we shot the footage to the themes used throughout the video and also included in our digipak and poster design.

We were inspired by the video for 'Asylum' by Disturbed as the themes used within this video are very similar to the initial thoughts that our chosen song gave us in relation to the music video. We felt that the motifs used within the video portrayed a very similar atmosphere to that by our chosen song.

We also noticed whilst analysing this and other videos in the metal genre was that they are often quite dark in colour and mainly use white light to give a colder feel.
Another generic convention of metal/rock music videos is that they use fast paced editing to give a chaotic feel.

These are some comparisons of shots taken from our music video and shots taken for existing real media texts.

 

From researching into the metal genre, we noticed that it is often much less about how the band members look than is seen in other genres such as pop. This is shown in a very literal sense in nu-metal band Slipknot's video for 'Before I Forget'. The use of very interesting camera angles means that even though you never see a full profile or head shot of the members, the video is still engaging to the audience. We took inspiration from this in our own music video by never showing the band members in the performance shots, the attention is entirely placed onto their instruments.

Below are some comparisons of performance shots from the video 'Before I Forget' and our own music video.

Another music video that followed a similar theme to ours through both lyrics and visuals is Avenged Sevenfold's 'Nightmare'. This video was a perfect example of how we wanted to combine a strong narrative with performance shots. This is also a convention that is commonly used within the metal genre. Fast paced editing that includes links between the music and visuals create a very effective atmosphere in a video and is used in most metal videos and we felt that this was the most important convention for us to follow when creating our music video product.

There were only a few actual shots that have been used as comparison against our own from this video, but the others were used as inspiration.

Music Video Final Cut

Final Magazine Advert

Final Digipak

Final digipak without (above) and with CD (below)

Avenged Sevenfold Magazine Advertisement

This advertisement for a new CD is striking because it doesn't tell you too much about the album but gives you all the necessary information like the artist, name of the album, release date and where you can purchase it. The colour scheme is simple and not overpowering meaning it stands out and is easy to read. The fonts used make it eye catching whilst also following the regular motif of Avenged Sevenfold. It is the same font that is used on the album artwork meaning that the audience will know what they are looking for when going to buy the album.

The only image used on the poster is the 'batskull' which is Avenged Sevenfold's logo which can easily be recognised by fans, also the fact that it is an intersting logo means that it will also draw in the attention of new fans.

Machine Head Magazine Advertisment

 The magazine advertisement for Machine Head's album 'Unto The Locust' uses the same colours and font as the album artwork, meaning that it will be easily recognizable to existing fans. The album artwork is interesting and with it being in the center of the page, attention is drawn to it. The record label logo is at the bottom of the page. This means that people who are fans of other bands on the label may be interested in listening to them.
It also advertises the 'Exclusive Unto The Locust Bundle' which includes a special edition CD/DVD with bonus tracks and expanded artwork, a t-shirt and a download of the album the day before release. These kind of exclusive perks would appeal to existing fans who want to feel that they have a better version of the album than other buyers.
This magazine advertisement was also used as a web advert with 'Click here to pre-order'  links placed at the side.

Digipak Analysis

This is the digipak for the Deluxe Edition of P!nk's 'The Truth About Love', 2012.

The images on the inside of the digipak flow together well, it doesn't look like three individual images. The colour scheme runs throughout the entirety digipak. It uses light pastel colours with accents of red and black, this makes it stand out. The pack includes a CD, DVD and lyrics booklet. The disks are found at either end with the lyric booklet in the center pocket of the digipak.
The title of the album is 'The Truth About Love', the pictures included in the digipak show the artist 'P!nk' smiling, shouting and crouching down with her finger to her lips. These simple pictures connote the idea that the songs featured in the album will portray many of the different sides to and feelings associated with love.
There are strong bold colours and fonts used on the inside panels of the digipak which contrast greatly with the softer tones used on the front and back panels. This gives the impression that the album may seem soft and delicate at first but then reveals a strong and feisty underlay which is typical of the artist P!nk.

This is the digipak for Slipknot's self titled album, 1999.

The theme of the digipak follows through with the general motif of slipknot as it shows pictures of them in their boiler suits and masks. A common colour theme used throughout Slipknot's packaging and merchandise is black, red and dark tones. They always use band shots in their promotional digipak's and CD's. The CD is in the center of the digipak with images and the lyric booklet to the sides.

To somebody buying the album who hasn't heard Slipknot's music before, the visuals of the digipak would give them the impression that their music is dark, heavy and angry. 

Cultural Effects Model

If the same media messages are repeated often enough they will be accepted as fact, but audience members can choose to resist these messages.

The cultivation effects model also suggests that the audience are active and can 'decode' these messages in media texts in a number of ways. Peoples responses are affected by their social backgrounds.
There can be different types of readings:
Dominant
Negotiated
Oppositional

If the audience are shown a message numerous times within a music video then they will start to accept it as the norm. For example, women are often shown to be glamorous or sexualised  in music videos and therefore some people will begin to accept this as reality.

Lip Syncing

Lip Syncing is filming the artist miming to their song and then editing the audio over the top so that it looks like the singer is actually performing. It is the process of matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.

Good lip syncing is very important in the post production of a music video, even if it is the smallest bit out, the audience will be able to tell and it will ruin their enjoyment of the video. Some also move their lips at a faster speed than the original audio track so that the video footage can be played in slow motion.



It is also important for the instruments to be synced properly. This video for example is poorly synced as it shows cymbals being played when there are no cymbals used in the song at that section. The singer also needs to ensure they open their mouth enough so that it appears that they are actually singing rather than simply miming along to the track.

Analysis of Music Videos From Our Chosen Genre

Mise en scene: The Mise-en-Scene used is typical of the genre and fits well with the theme of the video. In the performance shots they are all wearing black which is very typical of the genre. In the asylum shots, they are wearing white surgical robes to link in with the theme.
Sound: No extra diegetic sound has been added.
Camera Angles: Handheld shots are used at the beginning of the video from the point of view of the patient lay on the bed showing the surgeons leaning over him. Dutch angles are used throughout the video to show confusion and dizziness from the perspective of the patient.
Narrative: The story line for the video is based around the fact that the song is called nightmare, and in the video the viewer sees the mans journey through the asylum type building. He goes past various rooms each with a different band member in them going insane. It shows how they all eventually lose control of the demons in their nightmares.
Relations between lyrics and visuals: Where it says "So sedated as they medicate your brain and while you slowly go insane." This is a common theme throughout the video and is enhanced by the use of dutch angles and fades to show the effects of the medication.
Editing: Fades are used lots and many of the shots are blurry to showing confusion and that the patient is slowly going more and more insane.
The video follows Goodwin's theory where it shows the most shots of the lead vocalist, who also plays the main character on the bed.





Mise en scene:The mise-en-scene follows the motif created by Slipknot, that being their masks that they always wear. They are also all wearing dark clothing. Each room has a colour palette that it sticks to so they everything blends together causing the lead singer to stand out, although all the colours throughout the video are fairly muted and dark.
Sound: Diegetic sound has been added at the beginning of the video, there is wind whistling and you can hear the shovel dragging along the concrete and then digging into the ground.
Camera Angles:
Narrative: The story basically begins with a man digging into the ground and as he falls through the ground he changes into the lead singer. It then follows him around various underground rooms containing the other band members.

Goodwin's theories are shown in this video through the main focus being on the lead singer and also the voyeurism shown through all the females in the video being dressed in provocative clothing.

Textual Analysis and Goodwin's Theory

Relations between lyrics and visuals: "Hear the sound of the falling rain" the lead singer raises his hand to his ear to show he is listening to the sound of the rain. "Hear the dogs howling out of key" Raises hands to his mouth as if he is howling. "To a hymn called faith and misery" Crosses his chest to relate to the worship of hymns.
Relations between music and visuals: Throughout the section of the video when the band are in the car, the drummer is constantly drumming out the beat on the car, and when it goes "Hey!" he throws his sticks in the air, and later on raises a glass on the "Hey!".
Certain genre characteristics: This video isn't very conventional of videos in its genre since it doesn't show any band performance shots.
Numerous close of the main vocalist: There are many shots of the main vocalist including a section where the rest of the band aren't even in it and it is simply the lead singer and backing dancers.
Voyeurism or male gaze: This is shown through the all female backing dancers towards the end dressed in leotards and fishnets.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin identified the key features involved in a music video. These involve:
-Relations between the lyrics and visuals. Whether they be telling the story, contradicting them or symbolic.



This is the video for the song 'Devil in a Midnight Mass' by Billy Talent. The clip has scenes filmed in a church which relates to the lyrics.

-Relationship between the music and the visuals. Things happen in time with the music.



The people in the video walk in time with the music and specific points in the video also relate to the music, such as the doors being broken open.

-Intertextuality. Referencing other music videos, films, songs or popular culture in the video.



This video involves many intertextual references including references to popular music videos such as Lady Gaga 'Bad Romance' and Katy Perry 'California Girls'.

-Certain genre characteristics.
-Numerous close ups of the main vocalist. Usually close ups of other members are also shown, but less frequently than the lead vocalist.
-Voyeurism or male gaze is usually used to show the female characters or artists in the video.



Male gaze is used throughout this video when showing the women.

-Develops the artists style or iconagrpahy which becomes recognisable beyond the video.

Initial Ideas on Our Own Music Video

Analysis of Student Music Video

Mise en scene: The costumes we well thought out and fit well with the genres generic conventions and the chosen storyline of their video. This video shows very good use of different locations, each of the locations used fit well with the story line of the video and kept it interesting.
Sound: No extra diegetic sound has been used.
Camera Angles: The shots were varied and kept the video interesting. They have also used shots that are stereotypical of the chosen band, such as the low angle on the guitar solo.

Narrative: The storyline is conveyed very well and it is clear to the audience all the way through. It fit very well with the lyrics and kept the audience engaged without being overwhelming. The performance shots follow the generic conventions of their chosen genre and also fit well with the motifs used in the bands actual music videos.



Editing: The guitars synced very well with the audio but the lip syncing wasn't quite as good. I feel that they also overused some of the transitions such as the fade. Some parts also seemed to have too many cuts so it made it difficult for the viewer to focus on what was going on in each shot.

The Purpose of a Music Video

The purpose of a music video is to promote a song, artist or album. Music videos tend to be visually memorable, this is so that people will share the video and watch the video numerous times. If a music video isn't interesting, then people will not watch it.
Videos can be created with a narrative story line which helps to convey the meaning and lyrics of the song. It gives the audience something interesting to watch whilst listening to the song and helps them to visualize the imagery described in the lyrics.
Artists may use popular culture and modern trends to attract an audience to their video as they will be able to relate to it.

Music videos are also a way for the record label to show of the artist and show the audience the star image. Its is also a way to make money which the artists can then use to make more music and videos. Occasionally in music videos you will find product placement of companies that have helped to fund the video.

The video for Panic! at the Disco's Ready To Go was sponsored by Tuborg and therefore their products were used within the video. 

The History of Music Videos

1970's- On the hit TV show 'Top of the Pops', when an artist or band couldn't appear in person and they didn't have a music video to show of them, they would have dance troopes dance whilst the song was playing.
Top of the Pops was played before the watershed and was quite censorous. Acts would produce a promo that would be banned or edited.















1980's- MTV was launched as the first television channel to play constant music videos 24 hours a day. The first ever video to be played on MTV was 'Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star.'



-In the early to mid 80's, artists used much more sophisticated effects and added more of a story line to their music videos.
-Michael Jackson was the 1st artist to create the concept of making a short film as a music video. He used this concept for his video for 'Billy Jean'.

1983- Michael Jackson's short film for the song 'Thriller' took the music video to a new level. It was very unconventional to music videos seen in that era. It used conventions and techniques that you would have been more likely to see in a film. It used aspects such as a voice over, natural lighting and also included a title and credits. The cost to make the short film was $500,000.



1985- VH1 was launched. This channel played much softer music and was aimed at a much older demographic.
-Dire Straits music video for the song 'Money for Nothing' was a new level for computer animated imagery.



1986- The Chart Show on channel 4 was launched. It played solely music videos that were in the charts.
-Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' used special effects which hadn't been seen before in the world of music videos.



-Directors started to get more involved in music videos. Such as Michael Jackson's 'Bad'.

-Music videos started to have more and more money spent on them. Duran Duran's 'Wild Boys' had a budget of $4,000,000.

Textual Analysis of Music Videos

Mise-en-Scene: There are always people dancing in the background of all the shots to show that it is set at a party. Low-key lighting is used to reinforce this atmosphere. The location and costumes fit well with the generic conventions of the genre and the fact that there are teenagers in the video helps to reach the target audience as they can relate to it more.
Sound: There is extra-diegetic sound added into the video including people singing happy birthday to fit with the theme of the song and the video and also people shouting and laughing which adds to the atmosphere of the party.
Camera Angles: Handheld shots are used to make it feel like a home-video that somebody has made of their party. Dutch angles are also used to show the effects of the group of teens being drunk at the party. There are numerous shots where it appears that the camera has been set down on a table and the various guests can come and film themselves.
Narrative: The narrative of the video is that there is a group of friends at a party and they are telling people its their birthday as an excuse for how they are acting at the party.
Titling: Their are credits at the end, this is unconventional of a music video. Also the fact that the credits are their twitter usernames is unconventional of credits in general so this makes the end of the video even more unconventional.




Mise-en-Scene: She is wearing unusual costumes which is a regular motif of Lady Gaga. Outlandish outfits draw attention to her which links to the lyrics "I live for the applause.".
Sound: No extra diegetic sound has been used.
Camera Angles: Since her aesthetics are so important, lots of close ups and full body long shots to emphasize this. She is also always in the centre of the shots showing that she is the centre of attention.
Narrative: The song is about her living for the crowd and for their applause so in the video she is constantly doing things to draw attention to herself such as wearing crazy outfits, bright make up and generally doing things that the audience wouldn't expect such as having her head edited onto the body of a swan.
Titling: There are credits at the end which isn't a common convention of music videos.




Mise-en-Scene: The video is set in a jungle with various animals. The costumes reflect the jungle theme by including prints such as leopard.
Sound: There is extra diegetic sounds added including lions roaring and screams. This adds to the jungle atmosphere and also makes you pay more attention to the characters and animals.
Camera Angles: High angles used to show how small she is compared to the size of the jungle. Low angles used at the from the middle to the end to show that she has become more powerful.
Narrative: The song is about her becoming confident and powerful so the narrative goes along with the storyline of her finding her roar.
Titling: There is a title used at the beginning and 'The End' shown at the end to give the feel that this is shot in a fun, short film type way.