Tuesday 1 February 2011

Evaluation.Question 4

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

PRODUCTION
New media technologies were evident in the editing stages, mainly because we had to use Final Cut Pro an editing software some of us were not familiar with.When making sure the performances were in sync I used an ipod and an and ipod dock, this really helped us when getting the bend members to sing along with the track, and when it came to editing the video as a whole. To keep in contact with the band we used social networking and the good old mobile phones, we felt it important to be well organized because we all had different schedules and different times everyone was available, so by using these means of communication we were able to keep everything well organized and nobody got frustrated.  In terms of the performance shots the use of the guitar hero was another part of new media that we embarked upon throughout the construction element throughout the video.

PLANNING&RESEARCH
The main thing I used when planning our video was the Internet, mainly YouTube, in order to analyse as many videos as I possibly could. I also looked into social networking in order to make our band seem more real, the social networks we decided to use for the band were Twitter and Facebook, mainly because they are popular amongst our target audience.

Evaluation.Question 3

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The most important part of the music video process was receiving our audience feedback. We posted our video on many forms of social networking, in order to receive as many comments about our music video as we could. One thing that was good about our audience feedback is everyone seemed enjoy the video and they weren't bored whilst watching which is something we wanted to achieve. As well as the positive feedback I also received some constructive criticism on it. The first form of feedback I got was right at the beginning of the editing stages, our teacher felt that the performance shots from the pub didn't do justice to the original idea of the video, as a group we were advised to re-shoot everything, I felt quite upset about this because I thought it was going to take a long time to do. I then thought of the idea to incorporate Guitar hero into the performance shots, in order to distinguish the idea of work and play, and I feel this gave the video some depth and also something exciting to switch too and from. When filming the fun shots i had to do this by myself, because Jason and Molly were unable to attend the shoot, one thing I was advised to do was set up the shots but make them look as if they were natural, I achieved this by removing one of the members at a time in order to make it look like POV shots, I then instructed the band in what I wanted them to do and when they did it they put their own swing on it which made it look very natural and un staged,most of all it gave off the element of fun which what the initial point of our video. Another thing that came about from the audience feedback was the lighting in our performance shots looked a bit bland therefore not highlighting the band and emphasising the band in the right ways, unfortunately this problem could not be altered on final cut in the way I would like, so we had to leave these shots as they were The audience we showed it too also commented on the quick cut shots at the start of the guitar solo, they felt it gave the video some pace and also kept the audience on there feet. Another thing we got from audience feedback was the performance shots needed to be embedded a bit more with full band and it was this that made us re-work the guitar solo portion of the video and we worked in more individual band member shots.The main thing we took from the feedback is if were to do it again we would take into careful consideration the lighting, in order to give the video a much more professional clean finish.

The audience feedback was very useful in the construction of our music video because it gave us something to work on and consider if we were to go back and start again. I am happy with the feedback I received because it gave us things to improve upon with our music video.

Evaluation.Question 2

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
When I was informed I had to make a Digi-Pack and poster I wanted to emphasise the same amount of fun that I had in the video. Although we abandoned the shots in the pub we still took some lovely still photographs which I think work very well in creating a sense of fun within the CD cover and poster. I decided to use the same font on the Digi Pack as I used on my Poster in order to make them relate. In terms of the font I decided to make the font look somewhat like the Magners cider font this was relating back to the brief and I felt this worked well with the band themselves. The colour scheme I used for the Digi-Pack and poster was red and white, the reason for using these colours is because they are the main colours used in advertising and I feel this would make my CD cover and Poster stand out in any music store and billboard.  For the poster I decided to make the central image of the band the only thing in colour and everything else in black and white, to make the band stick out, I upped the contrast again to make them stand out, something I feel is important in the world of advertising. On the back of the CD cover I decided to display the Twitter and Facebook logos as well as the Blackberry Pin bar code, so the fans of our band to keep in contact with the band (it also makes the band seem more real). I also displayed our record label and the bar code again because this is what real CD covers include.

I felt it important to create some consistency between the ancillary product and the video. I went right back to the first planning stages of the product, the first thing that I noticed was we wanted to incorporate fun into the video, so that was my starting point. I also wanted to the audience to know that these boys have been friends for a while so I felt the image for the poster should tell this.

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Evaluation. Question 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When creating a media product you have to take into consideration the codes and conventions the product generally has and music videos are no exception to this. When the initial process started of creating the music video we had to be very clear on what type of video we wanted to create. As a group we decided to create a indie/rock video, mainly because this is the type of music we all would choose to listen too. When we received our brief one song instantly stuck out to us and that was the song Alright by Supergrass. Once we picked the song it was time to start deciding on the type of video we wanted to create, I decided to look primarily young indie videos for example One Night Only and Mumm-Ra, I wanted to look at these kind of videos in particular because I feel they have a certain uniqueness to them and I find them very interesting to watch  mainly because of the narrative they all seemed to follow. After looking at these kinds of videos I began to notice similarities in all of them, the main thing I noticed were they all seemed to portray the band having fun with there friends and this was something I wanted our video to convey.

 After we looked into the general "indie" music video scene we began talking about our music video, the first thing we had to decide on was the band that were going to focus on in the video. The original name for our band was "Tonic"but as a group we didn't like the band name, we began to think about the band name and we looked at our brief to give us some ideas. In the brief we noticed it said the band had met in school, it was during this we decided to name the band "Two Mile Radius" because normally to attend a school you need to live withing a Two Mile Radius and as a group we felt this fitted the band very well. As we began planning the video we decided we wanted to document the band having fun, much like what I saw in the videos I analysed and seeing as the band are all teenagers we felt this would be the kind of video they would release. Initially we wanted to film a house party with some cafe shots embedded within it, however due to re-decorating and timing issues we had to re-think.

We then decided to film in a pub, in order to achieve the teenage atmosphere the band are about, the pub also has connotations of fun,laughter and youth again something the band are passionate about. After we looked at the pub scenes on the computer it soon became apparent that the video would look dull with just these shots, so we went back to the drawing board. We went back to videos we initially analysed, it was during this process we noticed one things the "independent" bands have in their videos, fun and performance. We decided we wanted to keep an element of fun to our video both with the band themselves and the performances. We decided we wanted to make the video look like a home movie, much like the Mcfly video for their single Star Girl.

As I went to film the fun shots I made it clear I wanted these shots to look as natural as possible so although I set up the angles of the shots and told the bands some of what I wanted them to do they really took it to the next level and it was this that made me really happy about the shots and I began to in vision the video in my head, this again made me very excited. When it came to the performance shots this was very easy to decide upon, we wanted to portray the same amount of fun as we did in the previous shots we also wanted to the contrast of work and play to be combined and it was this that made us decided to use the popular PlayStation game, Guitar Hero. As these shots were filmed we worked with a variety of shots again to give it a more authentic feel. During the editing process it was important for us to keep the video exciting in order for the audience not to become bored. We also included a photo montage, the photos have been placed in the guitar solo portion of the song and I personally feel it gives the video a new depth and it also gives the audience something new to look at.

Overall I feel our music video follows the codes and conventions of any young independent debut music video,I feel it has an organic feel which gives of young,carefree connotations which is something I feel is very important to the video and the band.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Final Poster


Digi Pack

At last i've finished my Digi Pack, overall I am very happy with how my CD cover has turned out. Initally I wanted the CD cover to portray the same level of fun on the CD cover and poster as we portrayed in the video. The main colour scheme I have used for the CD cover is Red and White, I have used these colours because they are the main colours used in advertising and I feel this would helo my CD cover stand out on a CD rack. On the back cover of the CD i've decided to put the Twitter and Facebook logos so the people buying the CD cover will be able to see different ways they can get in touch with the band and so they are able to see what they band get up too and to see any recent gigs the band have coming up. Next to the barcode I decdied to put the Blackberry Pin barcode; the main reason I included this barcode is because of how popular the Blackberry is amongst our target audience and I feel by people scanning the barcode into their blackberry they will be able to recieve instant messages about the band, again so they get in touch with the band in a different way.

Digi Pack

Wednesday 19 January 2011

A Little Bit Of Re Jigging

Whilst looking at our audience feedback we've decided to do some tightening up of our music video, although the changes will be subtle we feel our video would benifit from making these changes. Through the audience feedback we've decided to make the following changes.

Make the photos during the solo move with the beat and make them all an equall length so some photos don't stay on the screen as long as the some others.

Up the brightness (on final cut) on the band shots, in order to lift them a little bit in order to differenciate them from the shots of them having fun.

Generally tighten up the shots so they look more slick and professional.


Overall we had possitive feedback but we feel if we did the minor changes we were suggested it would up the feel of our video that little bit more.

Tuesday 18 January 2011

General Audience Feedback

When talking to people individually about our finished music video I asked them for in depth opinions on what they thought and what they think we could change if we were to do the whole process again.

The first set of people I asked about the video was
The Band:

Micah: "It all looks good and flows really well. The only two bits that I think lack a bit are the verse with the "hit a wall" line there's too much of just Sean's mouth, and at the beginning of the solo feel the shots from full band to full band make it seem abit jumpy whereas adding a singular member shots in between would make it follow better because at the moment you do that halfway through the solo however both of these points are minor because the whole video itself is brilliant."

ABR: " I think it looks amazing, like its really good the one thing I think would be good is to maybe have some shots of the guitar hero screens just so we can see that we were meant to be playing guitar hero. However this is only something minuscule because it doesn't ruin the music video by it not being there. I think it flows really nicely and I can see the message your trying to convey about the band. Nice use of close ups too :) so glad I could be apart of it.

Jonny: Awesome. I think the guitar hero rather than real instruments video was a good choice. I love micah doing his weird spasm at the 1:00 mark. I watched it like 4 times. I think that it needed a few more individual people shots as well because it occasionally lingers a bit long on the full band shots and so you can see flaws. I also love the pics of us at the end. Can you facebook them? they are good pic


Friends and Family:


Charlotte:  REALLY love close ups of sean's mouth, they look really good, and the slight to one-sidedness of the shot. the film is really well synced except for one point and the general theme i.e. the band messing about is well presented. at some points however the film seems a bit unprofessional i.e. more like home video than music video. the photos seem a bit abrupt and the solo section could've used more shots of just one person i.e. accentuating the solo. 
OTHERWISE, love it.



Miss Beere: The song goes very well with with the image and the story of the video. It was excellent. The photo montage was impressive, I really enjoyed watching it.


Mrs Moore: Mise-en scene/ natural verisimilitude/ organic feel of the performance. A few cuts need to be tightened-up shame about the lighting of of the band a bit flat but you may be able to improve that on Final Cut. 



Audience Feedback Via Facebook



Getting some audience feedback

I posted a link to my blog via my facebook page, I advertised the video through facebook in order to gain the most audience feedback I could.


When asking for audience feedback I asked these questions.

1: What do you like about it?
2: Do you understand it?
                                                                                   
3: What could be improved if we were to do it again?
                                                                                   
4: Does it flow well?

The Video :)







Above is our music video; there may still be some tweaks we need to do we feel it is vital to gain as much audience feedback as we can before we go back to Final Cut to make any changes.

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Journal-12/01/2011

Today was a very exciting day because WE FINISHED EDITING :) this was a very important point for us as a group because of all the chopping and changing we did to our music video last minute and the problems we had with final cut pro. The video now documents the band having fun whilst performing and having fun with each other which gives off a nice interpretation of the band. When we look back to our original storyboard the final product doesn't look anything like we first hoped although there are some of the same elements from the original storyboard for example the thumbs up when the song says "we're alright" and the fact we have documented teenagers having fun, some of the changes we have incorporated a photomonatge in the instrumental part of the song in order to give the video a different level and so the audience don't get bored and feel like they are seeing the same thing for 3 minutes.. Overall as a group we are very happy with the video we created and we feel it documents youth and fun in a very positive way.

CD Cover

This is my CD cover for our band Two Mile Radius,the photos  on the cover were taken in a pub, the reason for this being that we wanted to show them in a place they would be fimilar with. When it came to the font of the album cover I wanted something very similar to that of the Magners Cider font, the reason for this being that on our brief it was specified the band like drinking cider, so I felt this worked will in working with the brief. The colour scheme I have chosen for the CD cover is red and white mainly to work with the colours of the red cups in the front center of the title image and the fact that these are the two main colours used in advertising.The bands name dominates the top of the CD cover, their name is in bold red lettering so it would be easy to spot if it was on a CD shelf, the title of the image has been placed in the bottom center of the image, it has also been written in white bold lettering again so it would stand out on a CD shelf. On the back image I decided to write the track names again in bold red lettering so it would be clear to read. On the lower third of the back cover I put the twitter logo and a logo that said "find us on facebook, the reason for this being I want the band to seem as real as possible and I feel social networking is the best way to do it. In the bottom right hand corner the Rough Trade logo is placed just above the barcode, again to give the cover a more realistic look.

On all of the images I decided to up the contrast, I decided to do this because I wanted 1: The band members to stick out and 2: I wanted the CD cover to stand out and the band memebers to be vivid and clear on the front. All in all I feel this CD cover gives off a very positive message about the band and it shows what type of songs you would expect to hear if you brought this album. Much like our music video this CD looks nothing like I originally planned mainly because of all the changes we encounterd throughout the process, however this hasn't dishartend me because I am very happy with how the CD cover has turned out.

Promotional Poster

These are my promotional posters for the band Two Mile Radius. The two images I used were from the original performance shots in the Duchess of Edinburogh pub in welling. The first poster I wanted to keep simple, I turned the image black and white and uped the contrast, mainly for the purpose of the poster standing out and making the band members look crisp and clear. I decided to use red lettering on this poster again so it would stand out on a bilboard if it were to be realesed. In the lower third of the image the Rough Trade Logo has been placed incase you wanted to find out more about the band.
The next promotional poster is my favorite one of the two. The reason being the center image of the band, I feel it really shows what the band are about, having fun. I decided to make the band the only thing in colour mainly for the purpose of making the band stick out, another this thats in colour is the red cups, sterotypically known for being the fun party cups you see in American Comedies and we feel these cups contain connotations of fun,youth and friendship. Much like the CD cover I have used the same colour scheme so the two work in context with eachother. Much like the first poster the Rough Trade logo is placed on the lower third so it doesn't dominate the image. The contrast has again been upped so the band and the cups stand out. Like our music video these posters aren't like I initally planned, this is mainly because of the changes we made to our music video in the middle of the filming process. However I feel these posters are better than anything I could of planned and I feel they still give off the same message.

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Journal-11/01/2011

Today we editied a few more parts of our music video as it got to the instrumental part of the video myself and my teacher felt that there was something lacking almost like we wanted to see something different so after a long disscision we felt that photos of the band will give the video a new level and something interesting to look at. The instrumental part of the song has two parts to it a quick up tempo section and a more moderate temp section. During the quick section I cut the clips so when played they moved quickly along with the beat of the song and as the solo changes the images pop up and again move to the beat of the song. Overall today has been a very productive day.

Monday 10 January 2011

A Few Screen Shots

Here are some screen shots of our music video. The editing process although stressful has also proven to be rewarding because we've got to see our video grow from some clips on a camera to a full production.














Wednesday 5 January 2011

05/01/2011 Journal

Today we began editing the performance shots, unfortunalty during the editing process my computer froze so we had to re-import our footage onto Final Cut Pro.As the footage got uploaded we begain cutting and putting the clips together. As we put the scenes together we realised how important it was that everything was prefectly in sync.

We are editing the footage in Fina Cut Pro, this software is much easier to edit on than I-movie, the reason we as a group find it easier to edit on because when it comes to cutting the clips we can get exactly what we want and not cut off any bits we need.

Journal-05/01/2011-Editing



The software we are using to edit our music video is Final Cut Pro, we are very happy that Final cut has now been installed onto the new macs because we find it is much easier to edit on than i-movie and its much easier to put all the clips in sync. It is also easier to to add photos and text onto the clips using Final Cut.

Monday 3 January 2011

Production Schedual- 03/01/2011

Today is the day we are going to be filming the final shots of our music video, because we are filming in one location we should ideally get the filming done within two hours. Here is the schedual I have given to our band in order for everything to run smoothly.

Times You Will Be Needed.

Gemma,Jason,Molly: 1.00-4.00pm
Micah,Sean,Jonny,Abr-1.30-3.30pm.

Where Will You Need To Be.

My house 68 Lodge Hill Welling Kent.

What You Will Need To Bring.
Just yourselves as I have all the guitar hero and camera equiptment at my house :).

Journal 3/01/2011

Today we filmed the remaining performance shots of our music video, the shots were filmed in my living room, the reason we chose my living in particular is because the lighting works very well in the space we had. The band themselves looked more comfortable during these shots which work well in context with the other shots we already have. The band themselves aren't playing musical instruments, we have the band playing the guitar hero instruments, we wanted to use these because we wanted the idea of work and play to come into one, and with really steady,crisp clean shots it works very well.

The whole of the performance shots were filmed on a tripod in comparison to the POV shots we previously filmed