Friday 30 January 2015
Thursday 29 January 2015
Final Evaluation Question One
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Our music video often uses many 'typical' forms and conventions of existing music videos within the indie rock/pop genre. I feel this is important to incorporate as it shows understanding and keeping up to date of what the industry is presenting and enables us to achieve a realistic, effective and engaging final product. Using 'normal' conventions of indie music videos has allowed us to successfully reach and interest our target audience as the used features have proven to be effective among these individuals as the existing videos have been successful at producing a video in this genre.
One example of our music video using normal conventions of indie music videos is through the opening scene featuring the title sequence presenting a form of star image motif using the name of the band and title of the song as the introduction, so the audience would be made more aware of the band and single belonging to them in future when they may come across it again- more memorable and prevents confusion of details of the single for the audience. The star image motif is created through using identical fonts on the title sequence as featured on the digipak and advert promotions.
Title introduction is something also used within music videos of many artists/ bands in this style of music, such as The 1975- Girls, George Ezra- Budapest, and many more. It could be recognised that we have developed elements of this convention used as the 'Girls' video presents the title in flowered lettering, where as our video created for Parables displays in a stylish, basic white filled font to create a sense of simplicity and minimalism from the beginning. However the convention in general has been used as the same outcome is achieved. This relates to the use of star image references within our music video, the titles contribute towards stronger branding and make the audience aware of whom the video belongs to and the name of the song it has been directed for from the beginning.
There are many examples showing clear similarities between the video we created for Parables and Slow Club - Two Cousins. Firstly, Slow Club's video features an extreme close up shot of the male dancer's hand; we also ensured this was featured in our video to emphasise emotion and feelings, we decided to replicate this convention to help deliver our message of frustration across better. When viewing both videos, the audience would be able to recognise the basic mise en scene. A major feature of our video was the white room in which the video was shot to create a sense of isolation and to ensure that all audience focus is kept on the intriguing storyline and characters. The setting inside of the white room is a convention which is also taken by Slow Club in their Two Cousins video. Another convention used in Parables' My Body is a Cage as well as Slow Club's Two Cousins is the effect of slow motion added during the production/ editing stages of creation by both parties. This feature is combined with the normal speed dance clips in both music videos and is something which I feel is effective in breaking up the video and adding emphasise onto certain points.
A convention used in Two Cousins, as well as many other indie genre music videos including the 1975- 'Chocolate', Hoiser- 'Take Me To Church', etc. is the effect of black and white added onto the clips throughout the entire video. I feel this is effective in presenting emotion clearly and allows the main focus of the audience to be on the storyline presented through the actions and emotions of the dancers, with no colour shown to distract or catch the eye of the viewers to take their minds off of this- more engaging as a result. This is a convention which is used across various genres of music and I feel it also brings an element of stylishness, emphasising the minimalistic theme which is created throughout the video.
Used conventions include the various camera angles/shots used and combined during the editing stages of creating the video. Each shot and angle used (mid-shots, close ups, extreme close ups, wide shots, panning shots, tracking shots, high angles, eye level angles, side angles, two shot and cut in shots) are 'typical' conventions of music videos in most genres, including indie/alt, and are therefore a demonstration of how we have adopted forms and conventions used in industry within My Body is a Cage.
In the introduction of Parables - My Body is a Cage, we chose to incorporate digetic sound of the setting up of the video. This is something used often in industry by indie artists/bands such as The 1975 -Heart Out and Arcade Fire -The Suburbs.
I feel that in order to achieve a successful, effective and interesting music video, some sort of development should be made on those existing to enable creation of something which stands out, engages audience and is memorable.
I also believe there are many examples of how we have developed forms and conventions used by 'normal' indie style music videos. For example, despite Slow Club- Two Cousins using performance conventions similar to Parables (dance), there was no element of meaning/ narrative behind it all. Unlike that featured in Parables' music video as this has a clear, expressive storyline presented to the audience throughout the entire production. Therefore, it could be recognised that we have developed on the idea of dance taken by Slow Club and created a completely different end product through a meaningful story behind the motions. I feel development of conventions has also taken place from P!NK- Try; the narrative is very similar as she presents a situation of heartache with the opposite sex through dance performance, however we have created a similar storyline in our video but developed on aspects of the mise en scene to make it seem more indie style and appropriate to our chosen song.
Other ways our video develops typical conventions of existing ones includes the element of performance narrative featured. This is known to be outside of the norm for indie genre videos as footage of live performance involving instruments is usually shown in the videos of indie bands such as The 1975, Metronomy, etc. From the beginning of the process, we intended to create our music video with a performance narrative which shows visuals and music fitting, therefore much of our research was based on existing videos also featuring contemporary dance. We found that this is usually a convention taken in the mainstream/pop genre of music videos- going against common conventions of indie genres. Often with indie/alt videos at present time, live performance is a typical convention but combining with a narrative is a modern twist to break up the music video and engage the audience through a more memorable series of events being shown.
It could be said that mise en scene, with relation to costume is a convention which challenges existing music videos, such as Ed Sheeran - 'Thinking Out Loud'. Our draft version presented two dancers who lacked personality and quirkiness; the basic dancer style costume did not achieve a suitable look for our intended narrative, therefore a change was required for the final version. This involved purchasing a vintage, metallic shift style dress for the female dancer, along with a smart shirt and bow tie for the male- this was something we were confident expressed a sense of identity and character for the dancers to be seen as real people. However, the idea had to be altered as we experienced an issue with the costume not fitting Sophie (the female dancer.) In this situation was had to use the only other alternative which was a plain black T-shirt of Cameron's (our male dancer) which was large enough to be seen as a dress on Sophie. This resulted in our video taking a minimalistic approach through the basic mise en scene, which was unintended but is something I feel we managed to execute to a high standard. This opposes that of 'Thinking Out Loud' as this presents the dancers in formal, elegant costume adopting a more extravagant approach.
Development of Sia- 'Chandelier ' occurred intentionally as we set out with the idea to feature contemporary style dance. Therefore there are noticeable used conventions in our video taken from Sia's; however, I also would say that there are examples of development too. One example of development would include features of the mise en scene. The house setting in which the young girl dances within 'Chandelier' is something in which I feel we developed as both videos performed within a confined space using the walls to suggest isolation. However, I feel our white room setting was more appropriate for our video as it matched the meaning behind the song and helped achieve the idea of the space being a place inside the male's head. The blank canvas type space appeared much more restricted and allowed focus of the audience to be kept on the storyline and characters rather than the distraction of a busy mise en scene.
We used features of amplification within the music video, including the flash of light effect added during production/ editing stages. This visually emphasises the volume and tension at this point in the song. As the two dancers come together in his imagine the bright flash represents a climax point within the video matching that of the music. Emotions are expressed through the contemporary style dance, emphasising the male’s desperacy through movements and facial expressions presented through close up/ mid shots. The psychotic, manic dancing in the final scenes of the music video visually amplifies the instrumental towards the end of the song. This challenges the typical conventions of an indie music video as this is something usually featured within electropop/ mainstream music videos, etc. Sia – Chandelier as well as Sia- Elastic Heart are both examples of music videos with a similar meaning behind the contemporary, psychotic dancing, in the way that the dancer/ dancers seem as though they are trapped and have a desperate desire to escape.
Illustration occurs regularly within the video as the actions of the dancers represent the meaning behind the lyrics. One recognisable example of illustration in the video is made when the male presses his hands firmly against the wall to show the audience he wants to get out but is trapped inside; this is shown at the point in the song where the audience hear the word ‘cage’ and therefore shows lyrics in a visual form. This also happens further on in the music video where the lyrics which can be heard are ‘you’re standing next to me’. This is the point in the video where the female dancer is first shown and is stood opposite the male in his imagination. This pairs the lyrics to the visual footage. Illustration is not often seen within the performance videos which dominate the indie genre.
Star image references are used across all genres of music videos, we decided to open our video with an extreme close up panning shot of the male, who is the main focus point throughout.
As well as this, the two shadows on the floor either side of the male when he is shown lip synching in the wide shot, represents two different mind sets and him having two different sides to his personality. This is a form of star image as the shadows are constantly shown in the majority of the shots featured within the video. The idea of star image motifs being used for an indie style music video is used commonly within industry.
Digipak and Advertisement:
Due to the nature of a homage, my design for ancillary texts used conventions of real media products as it is effectively a direct copy of Bombay Bicycle Club- Flaws in terms of layout, similar fonts, colour scheme, etc. However I combined the look of Franz Ferdinand to develop the Flaws album and added a pop-art style effect to the image of the female on the front cover. The front cover image, and that featured on the advert, uses a close up shot. This is a convention largely used on albums and adverts in industry across a variety of genres. Indie bands/artists using this convention include Kings of Leon ('Youth and Young Manhood'), Lana del ray ('Born To Die'), The Libertines ('The Libertines'), etc.
Reasoning behind my use of some conventions of the digipak is due to the fact they cannot be challenged by law, such as the legal information, the barcode, catalogue number, etc. Therefore, these conventions are inevitably going to be used by all digipaks/ albums in industry as this is something which has to be followed.
In terms of the digipak, the
lyrics being featured on the inside cover and inside left panel uses common
conventions of the typical indie genre designs; as there is usually a booklet
featured inside of the digipak containing lyrics of songs, credits and other
information related to the band or album.
My decision to feature the
band name onto the CD disk is also seen commonly in industry by indie artists such
as Marina and The Diamonds – The Family and Jewles album as well as The Kooks
with their Inside In Inside Out digipak; both of these are examples of indie musicians
opting to feature text on their disk.
Wednesday 28 January 2015
Monday 26 January 2015
Final Evaluation Question Three
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?
(SCRIPT READ OUT IN VIDEO IS AS FOLLOWS)
Throughout the process of the A2 coursework I have been
given feedback on different pieces of work from peers, teachers, ect. This
feedback was useful in terms of development of the text and gaining target
audience views to help influence the final product and ensure it was an
engaging, interesting piece.
Research
and Planning Feedback:
Feedback from
both teacher’s and peers was extremely helpful to us, as a group, throughout
the process of the coursework as it ensured that we remained on track with all
tasks and that the group blog presented a clear, trackable creative journey
leading to the end products (music video and ancillary texts) being justified
and to a professional standard.
Comments
received on our initial pitch were mainly negative and made us realise the lack
of clarity presented.
After
these poor responses, we decided to consider the advice given from Mr Smith and
revisit and alter the initial pitch to include the necessary improvements and
give a clearer presentation on our ideas for the music video at this stage;
giving insight to the audience on what to expect in terms of the narrative,
performance and elements of the mise en scene. Through the comments on this
post encouraging us to improve and update the pitch, I feel we benefitted
largely as a result of doing so as adding clarity and detail to the initial
display helped improve our vision for the final product.
Mr
Ford left feedback on a blogpost which made us realise that as a group we
lacked focus and consistency in terms of our posts tracking a journey of
creation. After reading this we began to post more frequently to allow the
audience to follow our ideas and justifications and also to achieve the best
possible grades as we understood a clear, consistent blog was essential. We soon
transformed this constructive criticism around to more focuses, regular posts
to ensure we were working at the highest standard expected at this level.
We
each understood the importance of research and planning in the task and how it
would help us in achieving the best possible final products. Therefore we found
reflection of every piece of feedback received effective in strengthening our
ideas and performance.
Feedback from Digipak and
Advert:
Most of
the feedback received was positive and showed a clear improvement from the
draft version I created.
Given
the feedback received from teachers based on the draft versions of the
ancillary texts it was made clear to me that improvement was required for me to
effectively engage and appeal to the target audience. I was not happy with the
low marks received on the draft therefore I decided to take a completely
different approach and create a homage version of Bombay Bicycle Club’s Flaws
digipak and advertisement promotion. Without having this feedback I would have
settled with the unrelated, ineffective initial design which would have
resulted in low marks being awarded. I feel that the comments and advice
provided encouraged me to recreate my ideas and allowed me to reach into the
higher mark band as a result.
The
reassurance received from peers gave me higher levels of confidence in my ideas
as I received positive responses from peers who commented on the posts via
their blogger accounts. All of those who commented on the posts are also media
students who had been required to design and create their own digipak and
adverts, this meant that they have knowledge on conventions of these types of
ancillary texts and are able to make reliable and educated comments based on my
designs being effective and realistic in industry.
Jack
makes reference to my draft versions in his comment on my final version of
Parables’ advertisement. As he says that he feels my idea appears professional
and stylish I gained confidence in my design, as he is a student who has a
great passion for this subject and is someone I would consider as having
knowledge in this area of media. He also references the Radio One DJ quote
being featured on the advert and compares to Bombay Bicycle Club’s
advertisement for their Flaws album; as this design was the basis of my design
(homage) I was very pleased that he picked up on this as it shows my homage was
effective and successful in achieving essentially a direct copy, which was the
intention. This shows Jack was an example of a member of my target audience who
interpreted the preferred reading of my ancillary texts as he understood my
designs in the intended way.
MUSIC VIDEO FEEDBACK:
The
usefulness of feedback from the draft version of our music video can be seen
through the improvements made and included in the final version as we decided
to refilm and gain more effective and relevant footage to present our performance
narrative to the best of our abilities. Teacher feedback from the draft
suggested that a refilm was necessary in order to access the higher marks and
advice offered allowed us to notice that some aspects of the mise en scene were
not developed enough for us to clearly get across the intended storyline.
Through
the comments made above, the importance of the mise den scene within our video
was emphasised and was clearly something we needed to improve on when filming
and editing the final version. We considered all of the advice from teachers
based on the draft music video and made all of the appropriate changes
suggested to enhance the narrative aspect and to ensure the audience view the
preferred reading.
Due
to the nature of our complex, emotional narrative, it was expected that some
individuals within our target audience may interpret the content in an
oppositional format and not take in points in the way in which we, as the
directors, had wished. However this is something which I feel is acceptable for
our video as it is open to have multiple interpretations and leave the audience
with something to find interesting and consider during and after viewing.
After
sending the link to the final music video on YouTube to ten peers, me and my
group asked them to go online and visit
our group blog to complete a questionnaire based on what that had seen; this
feedback was useful in establishing who our target audience are and what
features they would look for in a video of this type. Feedback showed that our
video gained a preferred response as there seemed to be understanding of the
meaning/narrative we incorporated. I was pleased with this response, although
it was unexpected as I felt the narrative could have been delivered much clearer
and strongly that we managed to achieve.
Included in the survey was a section which allowed the
audience to comment on any necessary improvements. These tended to bring up
small matters of the mise en scene which were often related to enhancing the
quality of the video in comparison to those in current industry. (‘dancing
needed to be a bit smoother’ ‘use different angles of filming’.) This feedback
was useful in understanding what the target audience took from the video and it
was interesting to see how they may have chosen to do things differently- this
would be something to consider if given the opportunity to do a similar project
In the future.
Despite the feedback being important to us throughout the
process of completing the coursework, it could be argued that those who completed
the survey after viewing the final version of our music video were unreliable
for commenting as some did not have any experience with this type of media text
and would not know what conventions and other aspects help define a music video
as ‘good enough’. Due to the lack of knowledge of the media subject or around
this area of media which some of the audience we asked to provide feedback
from, we may not be fully justified in basing key decisions on based on their
feedback given. However they are still within the target audience and therefore
their opinions would mainly be useful in constructing an effective music video
which works and engages.
Wednesday 21 January 2015
Saturday 17 January 2015
Audience Feedback Survey
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