Note to the moderator

Thank you for taking the time to look through our coursework that we have been working on this year, we hope that you enjoy looking through our research and planning. All posts are labelled and can be found on the blog at the top right hand side. We have enjoyed this course over the past 2 years and have collectively come together as a group to produce a video that we are all proud of.
Once again, Thank You!

Final Evaluation Question One

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS? 

Music video:
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. 

Final Evaluation Question 2

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.

Final Evaluation Question 4

Final Evaluation 4

Evaluation Question 1- Draft

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

 

Music video:

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.

(PRINT SCREEN RESEMBLANCE SHOTS WITH TWO COUSINS)

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 features 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.

(PRINT SCREEN SHOWING B&W EFFECT IN VIDEO)
(PRINT SCREEN B&W IN EXAMPLE VIDEOS)

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 and element of stylishness, emphasising the minimalistic theme which is created throughout the video.

(PRINT SCREEN EXAMPLES OF THESE SHOTS ON VIDEO)
(PRINT SCREEN RESEMBING SHOTS FROM EXISTING MUSIC VIDEOS)

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.

(SHOW PINK- TRY)
(SHOW SOPHIE AND CAM IN SHOT TOGETHER)
(SHOW TWO COUSINS)

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.


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 through layout, fonts being similar, 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.
(SHOW IMAGES OF THE ABOVE)

Evaluation Question 2 -draft

How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

 (photo of indie groups)



I feel both main product (music video) and ancillary texts (digipak and advert) are effective In targeting the intended audience who would be fans of the indie/alternative genre.
(photo of digipak cover and advert)
The digipak and advert are naturally very similar in appearance and style as fonts, colour scheme, alignments and imagery were translated across the two products. This was intended to create a form of branding for the band on release of the debut album to allow the audience to notice the similarities in both products and be able to identify the digipak/advert belonging to Parables when they are exposed to the ancillary texts in future. (Screen shot of video titles)

In the opening of the music video I used identical fonts to the digipak and advert 'Orator Std' to further emphasis the branding of the band. The sharp and stylish appearing fonts create a sense of formality and allow the viewers to gain an idea of complexity and seriousness of the narrative within the video and od content within the album as a whole.

 (section of video and cover of digipak and advert)

However there are few correlations between the ancillary texts and the music video created for Parables in relation to styling. The music video adopts a minimalistic approach through the costume shown in the mise en scene and the black and white effect added onto the footage. This element of simplicity could have been employed on the digipak and advertisement, however I decided to play on the stylish and edgy aspects of Pabables given from the music video and translated this into the ancillary texts. Emotions and a sense of heartache is something which is portrayed clearly to the audience through each of the products, making them very effective. The music video expresses the male figure's desperacy to escape a relationship as it is isolating the individual, where as the digipak and advert shows this from a different perspective through using a female (focus is on opposite sex to the music video) to express the same feelings through the still image of a female appearing sorrowful and downhearted. All products appear stylish and classic with a clear boldness giving them the ability to make a statement. Reinforcing essentially the same message through the music video and ancillary texts for Parables creates a functional and effective image for the band.(digipak and back cover)

The digipak and advert promotional tools act as a homage of Bombay Bicycle Club's 'Flaws' album. This is something which has proven to be effective as this is replicated by many other artists within the industry. The idea of copying the main features of a digipak and developing my own version was something I felt would be successful for Parables album as the layout and conventions suite to the indie genre matched those of Bombay Bicycle Club's.
 

The stylish, slick element to the ancillary texts comes from the detail and precision in the layout and design carried out. It is made clear that the designer of the Flaws album has thought carefully about the artistic choices employed in the design and there is an artists level of perfection presented. Hence the reason I felt a homage was appropriate and appealing for Parables- Hypnotised album.

 The cover pop-art style image is an illusion which does not reveal any insight into the album's content. The target audience exposed to the ancillary texts would have no expectations which adds to the excitement in purchasing the album to uncover the meaning behind the ideas presented in the digipak and advertisement.

Many constants are dissimilar, although they all fit within the indie genre of music and have a stylish, modern effect. I feel that more conventions (such as a minimalistic theme and a consistent monotone colour scheme) could have been more prominent or frequent to improve the branding of Parables. Many artists/bands within this type of music have taken ideas and conventions directly from one of their music videos and applied them onto the promotional tools; for example Artic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? And The 1975.

 

Artist influences for the main product (music video) included Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud, Sia -Chandelier, P!nk- Try, Lotus Flower - Radiohead, The xx- Islands and Robyn - Call Your Girlfriend. Despite not all of the above mentioned are placed within the indie genre of music, they all feature forms of choreographed contemporary dance with matches music visuals- this is something which is also clearly presented in My Body is a Cage. In terms of influences for the ancillary texts from pre-existing examples, Bombay Bicycle Club was my obvious main inspiration for design and layout as this was the basis of my homage on both the digipak and advert. Also, Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better; this album was one example which inspired me to create a pop-art style cover image for the digipak which was then translated on the advertisement for branding reasons.



(image of teacher feedback on video)
(image of teacher feedback on draft digipak and advert)
Audience feedback in relation to the music video largely impacted the final version. Comments from teachers concerning the draft version included the lack of a clear narrative within the video as ideas presented within the draft did not make it obvious that the female was an illusion in the room and simply a figure of the males imagination as he was desperate to keep her off of his mind. This is something we considered and improved when filming for the final music video as we ensured there was constant referral to the male being shown in the room alone and then switching constantly to the pair dancing together in the cage like space; I feel this constructive cristicm allowed us to enhance the effectiveness of the music video in comparison to the draft created previously. Other audience feedback was provided by peers who had viewed both the draft and final versions of the music video. Many agreed that in the draft, there were issues with the mise en scene as the pair featured in the msuci video failed to present personality and as a result the storyline was negatively effected. As a group, we thought about ways to improve this element and agreed on a better choice of costume for the couple. The draft verison seemed to portray the actors as a dancing duo which was not the intention. Instead, we decided to add a sense of formality and quirkiness to the styling of the male and female through the costume appearing much more suited to the complex storyline and giving the formality of the video consistency to make it much more effective.

Teacher feedback concerning the draft versions of the digipak and advert included "images not suited to the indie genre" and "too many plain black panels". I used this feedback to completely change my idea as I no longer liked my design or layout. After searching for inspiration around designing an effective indie style digipak I came across the Flaws album for which I decided to homage. This was something the teachers claimed was 'Stylish' and 'effective in representing the indie genre'. Feedback from peers were mainly give to me verbally after showing those around me at the time of creation. After design, it was made clear that the draft versions did not outline any relevance to the band or style of music produced by Parables; I gathered this mainly concerned the image featured.

However the feedback gained on the final ancillary texts suggested improvements.
(print screen of comments on digipak and advert)
Peers mentioned that it had a stylish appearance, which was something I intended to achieve. Colour schemes used were recognised and mentioned by a fellow student on the final version of the digipak, this is one of the main features of the design and has a huge impact on the audience. This has the ability to grab the attention of the audience and make a statement, giving an Impression of Parables- the fact that feedback regarding this is positive and states that colours are effective gives me confidence that the product is realistic and attractive.

(print screen of comment)
The element of professionalism was also mentioned by one of my peers, I feel this was inevitable on the basis of creating a homage as this has already been proven to be of an industry standard by the original designer producing the design for another artist/band. Also in this comment there was mention of 'maintaining the right level of busyness' which I feel added to the stylishness and is something which would entice the audience to pick up a copy of the album as take an interest in the information on the advertisement.

(print screen of comment)
A peer identified that my ancillary texts look similar to Bombay Bicycle Club's promotional tools, this was something which I was very pleased about as I had aimed to homage their work and the fact that it was recognised proves that I have done this successfully and effectively.

Evaluation Question 4- draft

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

BLOGGER- This was used frequently throughout the process of completing my coursework as I was constantly posting ideas for inspiration and research to ensure all my though processes could be tracked by the examiner. I also used this application to view several other well regarded blogs to comment upon effective posts and view and compare progress of myself and peers. Two of the main blogs I used predominantly included Mr Ford and Mr Smith's Blogger accounts and these provided details around set tasks and deadlines for the completion, I wanted to ensure that I was on time and focused on task at all time. 

MICROSOFT WORD PROCESSOR- This was used to present my analysis of existing music videos and review details such as genre characteristics, etc. This helped me display my analytic information in a more presentable way which is organised.

TWITTER- I used this form of social media from my iPhone accessible via the app. This contributed towards making Parables seem a more established and known band through tweeting details around schedules, shooting, releases and information about the band to be shared with 'fans'. This replicated the Twitter activities of real bands.
This application was also helpful in terms of personal scheduling and feedback given from peers and teacher accounts.

ANIMOTO- I used this as method of presenting my 25 word pitch to the class, showing ideas around the genre, storyline and song I intended to feature within the music video. This was very easy to use and an efficient method of getting ideas across in a creative way using imagery and minimal amounts of descriptive text.

GOOGLE CHROME / INTERNET EXPLORER- I frequently browsed the internet for pre-existing forms of media which were relatable to my idea. I gathered inspiration and basic research using the internet which I posted on my blog to present ideas.

YOUTUBE- This media platform allowed me to view inspiration in terms of pre existing contemporary dance music videos. through viewing many examples of these style videos, I was able to get a clearer idea of how to portray the expressions effectively using the appropriate shots and angles. I also used this to my advantage as I researched the current music video for Arcade Fire- My Body is a Cage, to find interpretations of the song. To the benefit of myself and the rest of the group, the current video shows edited clips from the movie 'Once Upon a Time in The West' and had no relevance to the lyrics within the song. This was something which pleased me as I wished to not be influenced by another individuals intake of the lyrics and portray my ideas boldly with no question of the storyline in my mind. the draft and final version of our music video was uploaded onto this platform and allowed the public/'fans' to view whenever and wherever they wished.

UKTRIBES- During the research stages, I needed to identify the main target audience of the digipak, advert and music video. To do this, I used secondary research listed on UK Tribes website describing the typical characteristics of different audiences. This research confirmed the target audience of Parables music and features to be indie/alternative individuals.

SOUNDCLOUD- I created a playlist of the typical target audience, including indie tracks which had meaningful lyrics, etc. This helped me use different forms of media to establish a target market.

PUBLISHER- I used this software to create moodboard documents displaying a collage of inspiration and ideas surrounding the music video. These documents were then uploaded to Scribd as a more presentable method, allow the mood boards to be viewed on Blogger.

EMAIL (Hotmail and Gmail)- This form of technology allowed us to communicate with others to organise the filming process. We contacted many studio companies to organise room hire for our filming location, however many of these turned out to be out of our budget or unsuitable for our desired outcome (pure white and appearing 'boxy'.) Eventually we were able to contact Yellow Bean Studios via his email address being displayed on the website. Following our emails we were able to organise a set date, times, equipment and prices for our filming slot at the studio.

iPhone- Used to communicate with members of the group via iMessage /text message and phone calls to share ideas and organise times which we would dedicate to working as a group in our free time (usually free periods on school timetables.) This was also a key technology enabling us to discuss filming details with studio managers.


DIGIPAK AND ADVERT

PUBLISHER- My analysis of pre-existing digipaks and advertisement were presented on publisher documents as this was the easiest form of displaying the information in one place in an organised and creative way.

SCRIBD.- Documents which I use for research were uploaded to Scribd as a form of neat presentation on my blogger page. I was able to upload files onto this website and copy the embed code onto a blog post. I found this an effective and creative way to show elements of research and ideas, much more presentable than a basic blog post.

IPHONE- The use of the camera on my phone was key to creating the draft as I was able to take photos of interesting scenery at short notice which I went on to incorporate into my draft design for the digipak and advert. (I intended to retake these images using a professional camera to achieve a more stylish, industry standard product, however this was not necessary as my idea changed all together following the feedback given.) My phone was also used to access personal and Parables Twitter account related to the tasks.

DISK WIZARDS- The template used for the digipak itself was taken from Disk Wizards website; a site which provides templates available to be downloaded for users to create their own digipaks and similar pieces. Having the template ready with correct, appropriate measurements made creating a digipak much easier as this allowed me to immediately focus on the design and get a better idea of how the product will look on completion.

BLOGGER- Again, I used my blogger account to post images of inspiration referring to pre-existing digipaks and designs which suited the look I was aiming to achieve. This allowed the viewers to see some background to the completed product.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP- This software was used primarily during the actual creation of the digipak and analysis. I found this an efficient way of achieving professional, industry standard outcomes as the available tools allowed different elements of design. My digipak journey file was also created using this software as I felt the final product would have a slicker appearing design and layout than other forms of presentation (such as Publisher, etc.) I was able to turn Photoshop PDF files into JPEGs to allow viewing in an image format, which I could then upload and display on the blog.

INTERNET EXPLORER- Allowed me to find inspiration around pre-existing indie digipak and advert designs, for which I was able to analyse and present on the blog as a form of research. Also, the internet gave me the ability to find and homage a version of Bombay Bicycle Club- Flaws digipak and advertisement promotions as I initially came across this on the web and took an instant liking to the appearance and layout.

CAMERA (Nikon DSLR)- I used the school's camera to photograph a female classmate to feature on the cover of my final digipak and advertisement in the attempt to achieve a homage/ similar outcome to Bombay Bicycle Club Flaws album. This camera was very high quality and enabled me to get images which contributed towards a stylish, modern design.

LIGHTING- In the school's AVS room I choose to use the white screen behind the female I photographing for my cover and advert image. To gain the best possible photos I chose to use three bright lights belonging to the school to ensure there were no unwanted shadow effects shown in the shot and to make the process of editing the image much simpler.
 
MUSIC VIDEO

iTUNES, iPHONE, iPOD, iPAD- These devices allowed us to efficiently and effectively film for the final music video through playing Arcade Fire- My Body is a Cage (our chosen audio) to gain shots which fit with the music including dramatic dance, expressions and in-time lip synching footage. We also filmed short clips of dance footage from Sophie and Cameron (male and female dancers featured in the video) to practise filming and present ideas at early stages of planning- filming via iPad and the song played in the background via iTunes on an iPhone.

PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING- For both the draft and final versions of the music video, we hired out the studio with three 'bright white' lights included in the price. These pieces of equipment dramatically improved the look of our video as, without the extreme lighting and use of various lighting techniques (such as the 'three point lighting effect'), we would not have been able to achieve the harsh, sharp shadows shown on the walls of the bright white studio room. We feel this emphasised our storyline and enhanced the element of drama within the video.

HAND HELD VIDEO RECORDING CAMERA- We used this piece of equipment for capturing the footage of our draft music video. This was often placed on the tripod or shoulder stand to gain the best results, however for close up shots as well as high and low angles, etc. As a group we did not feel this allowed us to get our desired effects such as blurred shots and high quality footage.
CAMERA (Nikon DSLR)- This was used to film our final version of Parables music video. We felt this enables us to capture flawless, more edgy shots. We also chose this camera out of the two as it gave us the ability to gain blurry, disorientating effects on filming, which we felt further expressed the storyline of disillusion effectively.
SD CARDS- Two 16GB SD cards were used for the filming of our draft and final music videos. Despite not filing the total available storage completely, we felt this was necessary. Having overestimating the storage limit of a single SD card when filming for the final video, we resulted in borrowing another 16GB card from the studio manager. This was crucial as we intended to capture much more footage after the first SD card was full. These enabled us to store the footage and later upload the files.

APPLE MAC- This desktop computer was available for use at school for us to import the footage stored on the SD cards and create our draft and final music video.
 
FINAL CUT PRO- Editing software on the Mac''s allowed us to view and edit our clips. We were able to creatively put footage together, also adding I special effects where suitable. After being happy with our video, we were able to use Final Cut Pro to export the finished versions of the draft and final music video to YouTube- where teachers and peers could watch and give feedback on.

Existing Advert Analysis

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die Advertisement Analysis

Artic Monkeys - AM Advertisement Analysis

Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws Advertisement Analysis

Final music video

Digipak Analysis

Youth and Young Manhood Digipak analysis

Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws digipak Analysis

Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better analysis