Evaluation - Question Four (DRAFT)

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

Pre-Production:

• Blogger - This was for when we were going through Research and Planning, it allowed us all to be posting our ideas and also to plan each week as we went through to keep ourselves organised and make sure that we had our final product in mind all throughout.
• Email (Gmail and Hotmail) - This was used to communicate throughout our group and also to contact both the Music Video Director for advice and also the owner of the studio that we wanted to rent out when starting to film our video.
• Internet/Google Chrome (Google Chrome easier to use with Google applications, such as Blogger) - This was to help us find the research that we needed to help develop our ideas, it also allowed us to find out information and inspiration when it came to starting the development of our digipaks and adverts.
• YouTube - We used YouTube at this stage of pre-production for when we needed to find inspiration both for the style of our music video and also for the dance that was going to be the biggest factor in it.
• Animoto - This was to pitch our idea to the class, hearing the feedback from this was very beneficial to us and we were able to get across our ideas better than if we had just explained them verbally.
• Scribd - I used the web app Scribd a number of times throughout the work, mainly to display my analysis of digipaks. This was a very useful programme to use and was very beneficial to the work because it allowed me to display all of the research in the style that I wanted to get across. It made the work look slicker, therefore projecting the style of the video that we wanted to create.
• Computer systems - HP Computer (Windows) and Apple Mac - These were just the computer systems that made the whole work much easier to do. This work is all computer based, therefore meaning that without this form of technology then there would be no development at all.
• Google Images - Google Images was used to find out what type of style we wanted to create. It  also allowed us to find images of the band we were inspired by, Arcade Fire, and generate a better direction of where we wanted to take our work.
• Twitter - We used Twitter very briefly, to help get across the realism of the band we created and make sure we were getting across a certain public image of our band.
• iPhone - We used iPhone technology, I primarily used it with the blogger app available on iTunes to help me update posts I'd done on the go. Also we used it to listen to the song we had decided on when filming. 

Production:

• Photoshop - This form of technology was primarily used throughout the process of creating the Digipak and Advert to give a more professional finish to the products, having already used this program throughout the Music Magazine coursework last year it meant that the basic understanding was there and I was able to produce my products a lot quicker because I already knew how to operate the system.
• Nikon DSLR Camera - We used this camera throughout the filming for our final music video, whereas for the draft we just used the small handheld camera, this was a better piece of equipment to use because it was of a higher quality and allowed myself (as the 'camera woman') to get a better shot because the focus and 'blur' effect from the camera gave the effect that we were looking for all along.
• Small Handheld video camera - This camera was also very crucial to our filming, this is what we used throughout the filming of the draft and was also very beneficial throughout the final filming because used this when filming integral shots when the DSLR was running out of battery.
• iTunes, iPhones and iPads - These three things were crucial to the filming because we could listen to the song we had chosen and also play dance videos when inspiration was needed when shooting the music video.
• Three Professional Filming Lights - These lights were provided to us by the studio that we hired out, they were incredibly beneficial to us because they gave the shadows that we wanted all throughout shooting and organising the video. Without these lights, and also the practice of 'three point lighting' then we would have a completely different video now.

Post-Production:

• YouTube - We used this technology to upload our two music videos, this was to make the video easily accessible for the public and peers to view. This was then very crucial to our work because we needed to be able to get the video public somehow, and this is the best platform to do that.
• Blogger - This was to publish our videos after we had edited them and put them onto YouTube, this was mainly so our peers and teachers could see our work after we had produced it. Again, this was essential to our work and was something that was within use throughout the whole of this coursework to show how far we have all come throughout this process and how the initial idea had changed from the beginning.
• Final Cut Pro - This is what we used to edit our video on, after working through this coursework both myself and my group members have gained a lot of skills that we didn't have before we started this project.
• Apple Mac - This is what was used throughout the editing process.

Evaluation - Question Three (DRAFT)

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout the whole process of this coursework, we collectively as a group have received a number of examples of audience feedback. This has been very beneficial to us as a group, and because we have only just released our video we are still waiting on feedback from that. However we shall go into more depth with that feedback and possibly conduct a survey within our target audience in order to gain a level of understanding within our audience as to how this video would go down within the music community. This would be more essential to my understanding because without seeing what the audience thinks to the final video then I wouldn't get a clear idea of whether what we did was good or bad. Also I have emailed the Music Video Director, Lucy Needs, again to ask for her opinion on the video because I felt it was appropriate to gain feedback from an industry expert. However before all of the feedback is collected, this is the feedback we have received so far.

Evaluation - Question Two (DRAFT)

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

•  When designing my Digipak and Advert, I had a very clear idea in mind that I intended to create which was the design that I finished with. I wanted to keep both the ancillary texts as minimal looking as possible because for the genre and style I was trying to replicate it meant that this was the road I particularly wanted to go down. The lack of imagery and minimal wording across both the texts was something that was done purposely to give a sense of 'mysteriousness' to the band we had created, also because our video is fairly quirky and perplexing then I wanted that to be represented in the digipak and advert. This is mainly because the band that we took the most inspiration from, Arcade Fire, are very different to most artists on the market and they also have a mystifying nature about them and they tend not to give a lot of themselves away in both their music videos and also their digipaks and magazine adverts. This was where the initial idea lay, however throughout development I found that The XX's album cover (as well as many others) was something that I knew that I wanted to replicate. With the clear style of our style from the get go, and my original idea of filming in a white room, we knew that we were going down the direction of the products being very minimalistic and effortless. Also, because of this minimalism theme it can be easily seen throughout my ancillary texts and also the music video; this is because the music video only has two people and a limited mise-en-scene, which can then be seen throughout my digipak and advert.

•  I had an idea in my mind throughout the whole start of this process in what I wanted my ancillary texts to look like and continued with that original prospect in mind whilst continuing with the research and planning. However, whilst in the developing process on Photoshop I did see how others ideas might turn out, although I stuck with the motif of the circles on the album cover and the magazine advert. The font used throughout my digipak also is something that was replicated in the music video, with the writing on the opening shots announcing the band name and song title. Even though these fonts are clearly not the same, they have the same style and structure making them more relevant to each other. In saying that, both products have a clear style and link together both through colour and style.

• I wanted both the music video and the ancillary texts to have a polished and cultivated effect to them, this was achieved through the use of measures of accuracy. Whether that be the grid effect on Photoshop to make sure that everything is lined up to be exactly as it should be, and also the use of Final Cut Pro to crop and alter the clips we filmed in order to achieve the look of sophistication and professionalism. All of these things needed to be very specific in order to achieve the look of the genre we were emulating, therefore meaning that both the ancillary texts and the music video were linked through this method.

• One thing that I also tried to achieve was the lack of photography throughout the ancillary texts. This was purposely done because of the fact that most products within the Indie/Alternative genre do not normally tend to include images of the band on their products. In Arcade Fire's case, this is very true for them; they are one of the band's that have a distinct style running throughout their albums and each one of them is completely different than the previous. They use an artistic element throughout all of their albums and tend to have illustrations and images on their products, something that I definitely tried to replicate.This genre, however, is known for focusing on the artistry of the band rather than their appearance. Something that is clearly shown throughout our video as well, because of the fact that even though there is some star appeal with the use of our lead singer (Cam) it is still quirky enough and the narrative is so intense that the appearance doesn't come into any context. This therefore shows a distinct link between both the ancillary texts and the music video.

• Interest for the band was also shown throughout both products, because we all wanted to keep the band very mysterious it meant a level of distance was needed throughout both products to enable the audience to gain more curiosity behind what they stood for. The lack of imagery on my ancillary texts was to prove this point, as this is a common occurrence within most other products in the Indie/Alternative genre. However throughout the music video as well there is a level of obscurity as to who this band are and where they are, even though in our video we have only included the lead singer to add that star quality to our product.

Evaluation - Question One (DRAFT)

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

Music Video:

The type of music video we wanted to make was essentially one with a narrative, this was the original idea all along because we never wanted to have instruments anywhere involved with the mise en scene. Therefore, this is crucial to the way our video was perceived all throughout the research and planning; the real media products that we used for inspiration we either used, developed or challenged the conventional forms of what was perceived to be 'normal' within the music industry.
Through the evidence of the following pictures below, it is plain to see how our product has referenced and used, developed and challenged real media products. Slow Club's videos 'Two Cousins' and 'Complete Surrender', both directed by Lucy Needs (the director I contacted), have a lot of the elements that we used in our product. For example, pictures 1 and 2 show the same shot used from the 'Two Cousins' video and then how we replicated that into our video. It is important to use real media products as inspiration for your own purely because of the fact that they show exactly what the industry is doing, and also because we wanted our video to be as 'quirky' as possible it meant that taken inspiration from videos such as these were the most helpful because they referenced the type of audience that we wanted to target. The use of the hand shot was crucial to our video because of the fact that it is able to show emotion in the extremities and is able to get across to the audience exactly how this person is feeling. With this it is clear that we used this element in our work, however the video in general is something that we developed because there is no narrative within the 'Two Cousins' video; however within our's we made sure that because of the emotion in the song and what the lyrics mean that we respected that and made sure that there was something within our video that showed this development.
Also with picture 3 and 4, also from the 'Two Cousins' video, the range of dance is something that we replicated within our video. Also the black and white theme is used throughout our video with good effect, this is something that helps the look and emotion of the video because then you don't have colour distracting you from what the video is trying to get across. You only have the the people and lack of mise en scene to get across the story of what this couple is going through and how he does not love her anymore. The range of dancing in our video was something that was always going to be built up within our video to have more impact towards the crescendo of the song, something that the 'Two Cousins' video does as well and therefore clear that we took and used within our own. Again, we developed this video a lot because the original Slow Club one does not have a story line whereas our's does therefore showing a level of quirkiness to what this genre normally produced.
What we did to challenge our video was through the use of the mise en scene, the costumes mainly. Even though we had a set idea coming from our draft of what costumes to do, especially considering that after the draft I was put in charge of sorting the costumes because that is something that I want to do in my later career, so this seemed like the best idea for me to be put in control of. However, there were issues with this because of the fact that I had purchased a vintage dress that unfortunately did not fit Sophie and became an issue for us when filming. Therefore we had to take the next best alternative which was to wear one of Cam's larger t-shirts, which even though I was not sure of at the time turned out okay in the end. In saying that though, because of this we have challenged Ed Sheeran's video 'Thinking Out Loud' because the costumes in his video are more extravagant it is challenging our video because we have used costumes that give know real clue as to who these characters are and what kind of personalities they have. Even though this is not typically the most respectable thing to have done in our video because these characters are fully developed in their emotions, it is only their costumes that are not telling the audience who they are and what they stand for. However, I would say that this works in our video. Even though it challenges the normal conventions of what videos do, there is still a lot of the character's personalities and experiences shown and even though their costumes are minimal and plain it still works.
We also took major inspiration from Sia's 'Chandelier' video, this was for both the dancing and the look that was portrayed throughout our own video. We wanted contemporary dancing, and this video included the most contemporary dancing in recent times. Therefore it is clear to see that we used this element within our video, not to the same extent as Sia's video. However in saying that, even though our video has used her's as inspiration, other than the dancing there is not much more that can be referenced within our own. The Sia one doesn't have a clear storyline, which our's does, and the setting is also something that is not portrayed in the Parables' video. We have then developed these points further and brought them into the world of the Indie/Alternative genre, rather than the Pop/Dance genre. Although, we have also taken similar costume tips from the Sia video, the lack of personality shown through it is something that we unintentionally achieved within our's and surprisingly it is something that has been executed well.
Going onto pictures 9, 10, 11 and 12; these pictures show the clear similarities between Slow Club's 'Complete Surrender' video and also our's. The use of the mid shots and the close ups within this video is an element that we really wanted to portray, therefore using this element from real media products.
We have managed to use, develop and challenge many aspects of the music video industry within the production of our video. Using videos such as these as inspiration is what has inspired us all along to be producing a video that looks completely different to anything that has been seen before; and even though I can totally vouch for the fact that we have not been 'original' in any shape or form, I would then say that we have taken all of the appropriate elements out of our inspirational videos and formed something that can be seen equally as 'quirky' and with certain twists and turns that the audience wouldn't necessarily expect. 

Evaluation Question 1

Digipak and Advert:
When researching the internet for the type of digipak and advert I wanted to create, I seemed to find a lot of inspiration in the form of The XX, Arctic Monkeys and Justice in terms of minimalism on their album covers. However whilst continuing this research, I realised that there was nothing in particular that I wanted to replicate. I didn't want to take anything from anybody else, however I would not say that I have been 'original' at all. The use of the shapes and the conceptual features behind what I have created was something very reminiscent of the Indie/Alternative genre, as most Indie bands do not follow the conventions of using band photography on their album covers and adverts. This then is obviously an element that I wanted to replicate with my own style and flair to create an album cover that could resonate with the Indie/Alternative target audience. I have used many elements from real media products, such as The XX's covers. They have inspired me the most purely for the fact that their simplicity and minimalism comes across very effortlessly and that is something that I want to come across withing my design. Whether I achieved that or not is something that I still must  gain from audience feedback, and then I will be able to conduct a full test as to whether my design has been received well by my target audience.

Evaluation 4 (draft)

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

When making the digipack, advert and the music video i used different forms of technology to create, develop and promote each different media products.

Pre Production -
Twitter (Private account (Lauren, Sophie, Lauren) @parables)
Blogger (Group blog, Mr ford, Mr smith, Classmates)
Email (Google mail, Outlook)
Internet (Safari)
Chrome
Apple mac
Scribd
Flickr
Animoto
 
Production -
Camera (SLR, VHD)
Lights
Tripod
Shoulder stand
I tunes
I pod
I phone

Post Production -
Twitter
Blogger
YouTube
Final cut pro
Apple Mac
I tunes

Evaluation 3 (draft)

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

 

Evaluation 2 (draft)

Evaluation Question 2 How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

 

• The styling that has been used through my digipack, advert and music video are all linking, all have the minimalistic look about them, all three have the monotone colour pallet used throughout. This links back to the genre again of indie/alternative. My digipack and magazine cover are stripped back plain and simplistic with bold shapes and a text that stands out, this again is linking with my video the way in which the dancers are dressed are simple and minimalistic, I feel that as we filmed in a plain white room this made the black costume seem bold and were made to stand out.
• From looking at other digipack's and adverts already produced taking The XX for example, these also have a stripped back look about them using the monotone colours. I feel that this look will attract my target audience.
• A typical point that you will see in videos the male is the main vocalist this have given the video a polished look, again relating to the digipack and advert as they too are both polished.
• The typography that I decided to use on my digipack and advert again matches with the text on the music video with a black background and white text, this also links with the white room and the black costume.
• The shots that are used throughout my video show the narrative of this story line that the girl dancer is in his imagination. The way that the shots and the order of them are shoed portray the meaning the audience.
• The way that the dancers are styled are showed continuously through the ancillary texts.
• Neither of the dancers make direct eye contact with the camera lenses apart from when the boy is lip syncing, throughout this they are both showing emotions though their faces and towards each other this connects and engages the audience in. Both have taken it seriously and want to ensure that they can relate to the public by showing the narrative meaning.