All the research and planning tasks are towards the beginning of the blog, the final digipack and advert is on the 17th Decemeber 2010. It then continues with research and planning and then goes into the evaluation. It ends with the final video.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Evaluation: Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
For my audience research I held a focus group with members of my target audience. Some of the members of the group had seen the progress of the video so therefore know more about the background and the initial research we did and some of them, it was the first time watching the video and seeing the digipack and advert. I felt that the feedback I was given was fair and helpful however I was unable to record them discussing but I was able to do a voice recording and therefore have a script of what they said:
Does the performance look convincing?
Person1: YES! I think it looks real retro and relaxed and cool.
Person2: Yeah although it the comes across a bit rushed at times I reckon. Like it feels a bit rushed together.
Person3: The performers look like they're having fun and just concentrating on the music a bit more. The lip-syncing's a bit out in some places too...
Person4: I think it fits with the genre of music, like the laid back indie-ish pop-ish stuff. Just looks like... Cool. (laughter)
Would you like to be friends with the people in the video?
Person3: Well Ollie is one of my friends.. (more laughter) No no no I know what you mean. Yeah I think they look like fun, like they're actually enjoying what they're doing in the video.
Person2:Except the chorus bit, I reckon they don't look like they're enoying that bit. Although I would wanna be friends with them.
Person1:I don't think I would. (laughing) Sorry I know that sounds harsh but except the one on the front of the CD I reckon the others look a bit like they're trying to be indie but they're just not. Just no.
Person4: I like the way he dresses yeah. He looks cool. They all look like they're normal lads and when they're doing the dancing in the video or the end of it they look good. I reckon we could be mates.
Does it remind you of any other music videos?
Person4: THE KOOKS! That's the first thing I thought. Looks like one of their videos when they're like in Paris.. Can't remember which one it is*. Like the way it's laid back and relaxed. It's very Kooks-y.
Person2:Yeah I can see The Kooks now you've said it. Or like, ummm Mumford and Sons.
Person1: When you think about it, it's similar to loads of videos with the indie kind of genre. 'Cus they all go for laid-back 'Ooooh we're really cool and take ourseleves really seriously and want to show you our really cool music' (laughter).
Person3: I agree with everything they said. (laughing)
Helpful. I know you've mentioned a few genres, but what genre do you think it is meant to be?
Person2: Indie deffo.
Person4: Bit of pop in there though 'cus proper indie's like, not as pop-ish. (laughter)
Person1/3: Indie/pop.
If you could, what would you change about the video and why?
Person1: I think I'd make it more smooth and not as jumpy from shot to shot. Not on every part but like the chorus bit it's kind of jumpy.
Did that make it unenjoyable to watch?
Person1: I wouldn't say unenjoyable just distracted a bit at that point but like one shot then another shot than another. It was a bit too much.
Ok. Anyone else?
Person3: The lip-syncing looks a bit out in some places.
Right and does that make the video hard to watch?
Person3: No not really but I did notice it in some parts, not the whole thing just certain parts. And it does make it just look like polished and professional really.
Person4: Yeah and some of it the lads look a bit stiff. I'd get them to relax a bit and look like they're having loads of fun the whole way throughout.
Something else the audience came up with was "The lip-syncing looks a bit out in some places." When asked whether the lip-syncing makes the video hard to watch, he said "No not really but I did notice it in some parts, not the whole thing just certain parts. And it does make it just look like polished and professional really." I feel that we could have spent more time on getting the lip0syncing perfect and making sure the actors were singing at the right pace, so as to make it easier to match with the song. This type of critcism is vital for getting the audience satisfied and the video a job well done. I feel that if I were to make the video again I would make sure all these things are sorted and get actors that are slightly more commited to the cause.
Another criticism I got from the audience was "some of it the lads look a bit stiff". I feel that this is a fair comment to make about some of the scenes in the video because the actors do appear to be rather stiff at certain points. If I was able to make some changes to the current video I would again get the actors to loosen up a bit and not take it so seriously because that is how the video is meant to be. I feel that the parts of the video that are best is when they are laughing or messing about and dancing. I feel that those parts really feel like the indie genre.
Cultural Capital:
When looking at the audience research, I feel that the cultural capital is the 'indie genre' and also the type of person actors come across as. For example, one member of the target audience focus group said that they would not want to be friends with some members of our 'band' because they look like they're trying to hard to be 'indie'. I feel this shows that some specific members of our audience are proud of their 'indie' nature and do not like it when people try and be like them. However if someone from an older generation were to look at the video, that would never be something that they would pick out of the four boys. This shows that to make proper criticisms and understand the members of the band fully, you have to know the indie genre and the type of people they are very well. That type of knowledge is obviously held in high regard to our target audience.
Uses/Pleasures of the text:
I feel that the audience has used to the text try and be more like the relaxed nature of the boys in the video. For example, all the members of the group have said that they like the way the main boy on the front cover of the digipack dresses, so perhaps they will use the text to be more like him. They also mentioned that they liked the free-style dancing and casual nature of the video so they may use it to be more let-loose and crazy. The pleasures of the text seemed also to be directed at the members of the band. Their clothing was mentioned in the discussion which means they got pleasure from looking at that. Also, their dancing and laid-back attitube was a big selling point for the target audience, which showed that the way we conquered the video worked well.
Summary:
I feel that from looking at the outcome of the focus group, our target audience read our video in a appropriate way. Most of the things they said about the video, (eg. the laid back nature and quirky band members) wre things we were aiming for them to pick out and enjoy. I feel this shows that the text was understood by our target audience well and shows that we accomplished our initial aim. I feel that the fact that all the members of the focus group are very into the indie genre and therefore their social context is fitting with the video helped us get such a clear reading of the text. If you were to put a non member of the target audience in front of the video and asked them to discuss it, I do not think that they would have understood the relaxed nature of the video. I do not feel that their lack of cultural capital of the indie genre made them read the text any differently; however I do feel that one member of the groups excessive knowledge of the indie genre made them look into the band members a bit more and therefore thought that some of them did not fit in.
Does the performance look convincing?
Person1: YES! I think it looks real retro and relaxed and cool.
Person2: Yeah although it the comes across a bit rushed at times I reckon. Like it feels a bit rushed together.
Person3: The performers look like they're having fun and just concentrating on the music a bit more. The lip-syncing's a bit out in some places too...
Person4: I think it fits with the genre of music, like the laid back indie-ish pop-ish stuff. Just looks like... Cool. (laughter)
Would you like to be friends with the people in the video?
Person3: Well Ollie is one of my friends.. (more laughter) No no no I know what you mean. Yeah I think they look like fun, like they're actually enjoying what they're doing in the video.
Person2:Except the chorus bit, I reckon they don't look like they're enoying that bit. Although I would wanna be friends with them.
Person1:I don't think I would. (laughing) Sorry I know that sounds harsh but except the one on the front of the CD I reckon the others look a bit like they're trying to be indie but they're just not. Just no.
Person4: I like the way he dresses yeah. He looks cool. They all look like they're normal lads and when they're doing the dancing in the video or the end of it they look good. I reckon we could be mates.
Does it remind you of any other music videos?
Person4: THE KOOKS! That's the first thing I thought. Looks like one of their videos when they're like in Paris.. Can't remember which one it is*. Like the way it's laid back and relaxed. It's very Kooks-y.
Person2:Yeah I can see The Kooks now you've said it. Or like, ummm Mumford and Sons.
Person1: When you think about it, it's similar to loads of videos with the indie kind of genre. 'Cus they all go for laid-back 'Ooooh we're really cool and take ourseleves really seriously and want to show you our really cool music' (laughter).
Person3: I agree with everything they said. (laughing)
Helpful. I know you've mentioned a few genres, but what genre do you think it is meant to be?
Person2: Indie deffo.
Person4: Bit of pop in there though 'cus proper indie's like, not as pop-ish. (laughter)
Person1/3: Indie/pop.
If you could, what would you change about the video and why?
Person1: I think I'd make it more smooth and not as jumpy from shot to shot. Not on every part but like the chorus bit it's kind of jumpy.
Did that make it unenjoyable to watch?
Person1: I wouldn't say unenjoyable just distracted a bit at that point but like one shot then another shot than another. It was a bit too much.
Ok. Anyone else?
Person3: The lip-syncing looks a bit out in some places.
Right and does that make the video hard to watch?
Person3: No not really but I did notice it in some parts, not the whole thing just certain parts. And it does make it just look like polished and professional really.
Person4: Yeah and some of it the lads look a bit stiff. I'd get them to relax a bit and look like they're having loads of fun the whole way throughout.
Ways in which the audience were affected:
When going back and analysing my research, I feel that the audience was affected by the video is a positive way. They thought that the performers looked like they were having fun and enjoying themselves. This is an expected result to find from the video because we were aiming for an upbeat and relaxed performance and feel that this is what we have got. The positive affect of the video also prompted comments fro the audience about the actors clothing and the way they acted. When asked whether they would want to be friends with the actors in the video, three out of the four said yes they would want to be. The reasons they gave were that they looked 'cool' and they liked the way that they dressed. This is the response we were aiming for from the audience, which shows they have taken the preferred reading from the video. However, one member of the group said "I don't think I would. (laughing) Sorry I know that sounds harsh but except the one on the front of the CD I reckon the others look a bit like they're trying to be indie but they're just not. Just no." I took this criticism into account and think that if I were to make some changes to the video, I would get the other actors to play up to the indie vibe some more and therefore satisfy the whole of the audience. One of the members of the group also said "I think it looks real retro and relaxed and cool." This is the type of response we were aiming for and I am very pleased with this comment. The fact that the audience recognise the affect we were going for shows the video is at least off in the right direction.
When going back and analysing my research, I feel that the audience was affected by the video is a positive way. They thought that the performers looked like they were having fun and enjoying themselves. This is an expected result to find from the video because we were aiming for an upbeat and relaxed performance and feel that this is what we have got. The positive affect of the video also prompted comments fro the audience about the actors clothing and the way they acted. When asked whether they would want to be friends with the actors in the video, three out of the four said yes they would want to be. The reasons they gave were that they looked 'cool' and they liked the way that they dressed. This is the response we were aiming for from the audience, which shows they have taken the preferred reading from the video. However, one member of the group said "I don't think I would. (laughing) Sorry I know that sounds harsh but except the one on the front of the CD I reckon the others look a bit like they're trying to be indie but they're just not. Just no." I took this criticism into account and think that if I were to make some changes to the video, I would get the other actors to play up to the indie vibe some more and therefore satisfy the whole of the audience. One of the members of the group also said "I think it looks real retro and relaxed and cool." This is the type of response we were aiming for and I am very pleased with this comment. The fact that the audience recognise the affect we were going for shows the video is at least off in the right direction.
Looking at the changes the audience would have made:
When asked whether the audience had any changes to be made, one member of the group said "I think I'd make it more smooth and not as jumpy from shot to shot. Not on every part but like the chorus bit it's kind of jumpy." When asked whether this made the video unenjoyable she said that it distracted her a bit and was a bit too mich. I feel that we could have made the cut shots a bit smoother to prevent this from happening because we were not aiming for a negative response from the shot cuts. I feel by making the video smoother and not trying to fit as many shots in as possible, we could have stopped ourselves from gaining this kind of response and therefore made the audience more happy. When looking back at the focus group, this is the only time this issue is mentioned however I feel that because it is mentioned once then it is automatically an issue.Something else the audience came up with was "The lip-syncing looks a bit out in some places." When asked whether the lip-syncing makes the video hard to watch, he said "No not really but I did notice it in some parts, not the whole thing just certain parts. And it does make it just look like polished and professional really." I feel that we could have spent more time on getting the lip0syncing perfect and making sure the actors were singing at the right pace, so as to make it easier to match with the song. This type of critcism is vital for getting the audience satisfied and the video a job well done. I feel that if I were to make the video again I would make sure all these things are sorted and get actors that are slightly more commited to the cause.
Another criticism I got from the audience was "some of it the lads look a bit stiff". I feel that this is a fair comment to make about some of the scenes in the video because the actors do appear to be rather stiff at certain points. If I was able to make some changes to the current video I would again get the actors to loosen up a bit and not take it so seriously because that is how the video is meant to be. I feel that the parts of the video that are best is when they are laughing or messing about and dancing. I feel that those parts really feel like the indie genre.
Cultural Capital:
When looking at the audience research, I feel that the cultural capital is the 'indie genre' and also the type of person actors come across as. For example, one member of the target audience focus group said that they would not want to be friends with some members of our 'band' because they look like they're trying to hard to be 'indie'. I feel this shows that some specific members of our audience are proud of their 'indie' nature and do not like it when people try and be like them. However if someone from an older generation were to look at the video, that would never be something that they would pick out of the four boys. This shows that to make proper criticisms and understand the members of the band fully, you have to know the indie genre and the type of people they are very well. That type of knowledge is obviously held in high regard to our target audience.
Uses/Pleasures of the text:
I feel that the audience has used to the text try and be more like the relaxed nature of the boys in the video. For example, all the members of the group have said that they like the way the main boy on the front cover of the digipack dresses, so perhaps they will use the text to be more like him. They also mentioned that they liked the free-style dancing and casual nature of the video so they may use it to be more let-loose and crazy. The pleasures of the text seemed also to be directed at the members of the band. Their clothing was mentioned in the discussion which means they got pleasure from looking at that. Also, their dancing and laid-back attitube was a big selling point for the target audience, which showed that the way we conquered the video worked well.
Summary:
I feel that from looking at the outcome of the focus group, our target audience read our video in a appropriate way. Most of the things they said about the video, (eg. the laid back nature and quirky band members) wre things we were aiming for them to pick out and enjoy. I feel this shows that the text was understood by our target audience well and shows that we accomplished our initial aim. I feel that the fact that all the members of the focus group are very into the indie genre and therefore their social context is fitting with the video helped us get such a clear reading of the text. If you were to put a non member of the target audience in front of the video and asked them to discuss it, I do not think that they would have understood the relaxed nature of the video. I do not feel that their lack of cultural capital of the indie genre made them read the text any differently; however I do feel that one member of the groups excessive knowledge of the indie genre made them look into the band members a bit more and therefore thought that some of them did not fit in.
Evaluation - Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
When completing the whole project, technology has played a huge part. Firstly I would have been unable to complete the project without the use of http://www.blogger.com/. This website is where I have documented all of the work I have completed and is how everyone will be able to look at it. From the very beginning the website http://www.youtube.com/ has been vital in completing the project. The use of embedding videos into my blog has made the process of researching existing products very simple because I was able to show people which videos I was influenced by and tell them why in one place. I have incorporated Media 2.0 technologies into the project as well by using http://www.facebook.com/ to interrect with my audience. I set up a group and invited some friends who I thought were part of the target audience to join. This meant that I was able to get audience feedback from the very beginning and it would all be in one place. I was also able to show people my digipack, advertisement and video when they were all finished and ask people to give me feedback on them. I was also able to communicate with the artist I was using through the use of emails. This Media 2.0 made getting in touch and asking permission very simple and easy and made the whole project fit together better.
When beginning to produce and shoot the digipack, advert and video, we used either a Panasonic HD DV camera or a Nikon D60 DSLR camera. These cameras are both very advanced in technology and allow you to film or take a picture and watch it back on the camera. This kind of technology allows us to get the filming done much faster and with much more ease. The access to these cameras was extremely helpful and made completing the project much easier. When going back into the classroom and actually putting the products together, I used Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Premiere Pro. Photoshop was used for the digipack and the advertisement and made putting them together very simple and quick. I was able to be more creative with the new media technology and it made doing things like edit pictures very simple. Without the use of Photoshop, the digipack and advert would be very limited and unprofessional. When completing the video, I used Premiere Pro which, again, made the process very simple. I was able to do lip-syncing with ease and create a video that flowed well.
I feel that if I were to have access to more advance technologies, such as a studio to shoot a video in or an advanced lighting system, the video may have come across as more professional. When looking at the theory of technological determinism, I felt that the new technology did both help and hinder my finished products. For example, the technology made completing the projects very fast, with everything in one place and at my disposal as I wished. However, I do feel that when creating the digipack, I was more limited as to where I was going to put the pictures because the programme had it's own idea as to where it wanted the picture to go. I do not have any major crisicisms of the technology used.
Evaluation - Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I have completed a Prezi to answer this question:
Evaluation - Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? on Prezi
To answer the question two of the evaluation, I have completed a Prezi. I have also included pictures of my final digipack and final advertisement below:
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Evaluation: Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When research our product, we were influenced by existing media products such as the Arctic Monkeys videos, CD covers and advertisements. We used the Arctic Monkeys because we felt that they reflected the work of The 99s and used the same indie theme that we were going for. We thought the indie theme was interesting and there was room for creativity because they try and keep it simple without challenging the conventions and therefore losing the audiences interest.
When comparing the digipack I created with digipack's that have been done professionally, it is interesting to compare the similarities and differences. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the full indie CD cover for the Arctic Monkeys album other than the one above, but i feel you can see the similarities between the two front covers. However when further designing the digipack, I found it hard to achieve a professional standard due to lack of resources in college and little to no funds. The actors I used were very good at posing for the photos which made the process much simpler. I feel that the mood board I made, including photos of the type of clothing the actors would need to wear, reflects the type of things that are shown in the video and digipack. This works well with the audience and shows the research that was done into the target audience was fairly detailed and showed some good knowledge of the kind of people we wish to target.
The products that I have created follow redundant conventions from typical indie videos, advertisements and digpacks. The generic nature of the products works for this genre because the audience tend to 'know what they like and like what they know'. A member of our audience said this to us when we were doing initial research and we tried to stick to this rule. The black and white colour scheme of the advert and the digipack is something that the indie genre will recognise and immediately know what they are getting from the products. We tried to make it so they will automatically understand what they are getting from the songs they are going to listen to. We tried to make our actors typical 'indie' member of the audience, so we used clothes, shoes, hairstyles etc that would appeal to our audience. We are hoping that the audience will understand if they see familiarity and an Arctic Monkeys-type performance. However, there is the fear that the audience could easily forget about about the products, due to them being very redundant and the same as lots of other indie type products on the market. This was also mentioned in the audience feedback but we are unable to do much about this problem now that everything is finished. The practitioner Steve Neale said that the repetition of genre helps the audience recognise indie theme and shows understanding of audience needs. We thought about this when first looking into the indie genre and felt that we would want to reinforce this theory and satisfy our audiences needs.
This is the image used on the front of the Arctic Monkeys digipack - I feel it reflects my digipack well because of the use of the main singer on the front cover and the other band members on the other panels. Our audience research helped to define the strengths and weaknesses of our media products and shows us that we have followed the indie conventions well. For example, we asked the audience: "Does the Production work target the audience we wanted?" and a member of our target audience answered: "Yes, i feel the indie theme is portrayed well. and the black and white looks good. The costume and people used go with the target audience." We communicated with our audience mainly through Facebook because it is easy to come across the type of people we want. We set up a Facebook group and invited people who we thought would appreciate the music type we are using.
When comparing the digipack I created with digipack's that have been done professionally, it is interesting to compare the similarities and differences. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the full indie CD cover for the Arctic Monkeys album other than the one above, but i feel you can see the similarities between the two front covers. However when further designing the digipack, I found it hard to achieve a professional standard due to lack of resources in college and little to no funds. The actors I used were very good at posing for the photos which made the process much simpler. I feel that the mood board I made, including photos of the type of clothing the actors would need to wear, reflects the type of things that are shown in the video and digipack. This works well with the audience and shows the research that was done into the target audience was fairly detailed and showed some good knowledge of the kind of people we wish to target.The products that I have created follow redundant conventions from typical indie videos, advertisements and digpacks. The generic nature of the products works for this genre because the audience tend to 'know what they like and like what they know'. A member of our audience said this to us when we were doing initial research and we tried to stick to this rule. The black and white colour scheme of the advert and the digipack is something that the indie genre will recognise and immediately know what they are getting from the products. We tried to make it so they will automatically understand what they are getting from the songs they are going to listen to. We tried to make our actors typical 'indie' member of the audience, so we used clothes, shoes, hairstyles etc that would appeal to our audience. We are hoping that the audience will understand if they see familiarity and an Arctic Monkeys-type performance. However, there is the fear that the audience could easily forget about about the products, due to them being very redundant and the same as lots of other indie type products on the market. This was also mentioned in the audience feedback but we are unable to do much about this problem now that everything is finished. The practitioner Steve Neale said that the repetition of genre helps the audience recognise indie theme and shows understanding of audience needs. We thought about this when first looking into the indie genre and felt that we would want to reinforce this theory and satisfy our audiences needs.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
Research and Planning: Moodboard.
To give you a clear view of the type of things my target audience likes, here are some images representing them:
Research and Planning: Organisation of Costumes and Props.
The costumes the performers/cast members need to wear when filming the video are very straight forward. All 4 of the members of the 'band' already wear the type of clothing that we need. Here is an example of the sort of outfit they would wear in the video:
Research and Planning: Organisation of location.
When considering the location of our music video, we had to take in to consideration several different aspects. Firstly, the weather conditions are fairly unpredictable at the moment, with lots of snow often followed by rain. We had to think about whether it would be sensible to film outside at the time of year we are hoping to, and if we did want to, the whereabouts of this. At college, we have a large wooded area which appears to be the perfect place to film because there is a lot of room and it is easily accessible to all performers/cast members and filming crew. We also had to take into consideration the risk aspect of filming in the woods because we had to think about what could happen. We analysed the situation and decided that there was little risk when in the woods, except for falling over or getting wet with rain. We have thought about the weather and decided the video would be fine to film in most weather conditions and are not worried about wind or rain or snow or sunshine.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
Research and Planning: Performers and Casting.
Friday, 17 December 2010
Friday, 3 December 2010
Digipack Draft.
I have created a digipack design which I hope to use for my final piece. The images are found images off the internet because I have been unable to take any pictures yet, however the pictures I am going to take are going resemble these ones. I created the record label logo myself on Photoshop. The overall effect I went for was relaxed because I feel that this is the way in which indie artists want their music to be portrayed.
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Post-Pitch.
The comments we received from our peers were very useful because they gave us a deeper understanding of what we need to improve on our pitch. The resounding opinion from the peers was that we researched well into our target audience and therefore got a clear understanding of the kind of thing they want to listen to and see on screen. Most of the comments said that the idea was reasonably generic because it has been done before, but they all said that it works every time and it always relaxed and good to watch and works well for the target audience. We are currently unsure of the actors and locations we are going to use for our digipack, advert and video so we were unable to give sufficient information regarding this element. The comments from the pitch say that it will be quite easy to bring together however we do need to think about weather conditions if we are wanting to film outside. Looking at the technical aspect of filming video, it seems very achievable that we will be able to carry it all out with the college equipment. The video will be low budget so will not need any special equipment. It was brought to our attention that we need to think about the types of shots and angles that we are going to use in the video and write/draw a detailed shot list. It is of resounding opinion that the video sounds realistic and like an idea for an actual music video. It was suggested that we do more research into the narrative aspect of the video and even look at Supergrass 'Alright and The Beatles 'Hard Days Night' and 'Help'. The overall verdict for whether the idea sounds exciting and achievable was yes, but our peers feel that we need to look through everything and add a bit more detail for the idea to be completely successful. It was also suggested that we do more planning.
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Research and Planning: Artist Permission.
When considering the song we would like to use when doing our music video, we came across an unsigned band called The 99s on a website called unsigned.com. We listened to some of their music and thought the song Rooftop sounded like the right kind of thing for us. We then emailed the artist for permission to use the song:
From: abiyorke@hotmail.co.uk
To: jamesloughlin@hotmail.co.uk
Subject: Music Video.
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010
Hello. We would like to say that we are big fans of your music and have been for a while now. We have been set an A Level Media project where we have to create a music video for an unsigned band; considering we really enjoy your music, we would love to use your song 'Rooftop'. It will never be used for profit and will only be viewed by the rest of my class and my teacher. There is also a possibility that the exam board will use it for training purposes but it will not be used for commercial use. I would like to make it clear that we only need permission to use your song and do not need your involvement.
Thank you.
Abi.
From: James Loughlin (jamesloughlin@hotmail.co.uk)
Sent: 07 October 2010 22:55:42
To: abiyorke@hotmail.co.uk
Hi Abi,
Firstly, thanks for getting in touch....
You're ok to use Rooftop if you like that's fine with us. Try and make it tasteful, not like the guys who did "oh me oh my" who filmed some dodgy bedroom scene with a bloke tied up. Turned out to be terrible and its on youtube now too without our permission!!
Keep us posted!
Good luck!
Jimmy
From: abiyorke@hotmail.co.uk
To: jamesloughlin@hotmail.co.uk
Subject: Music Video.
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010
Hello. We would like to say that we are big fans of your music and have been for a while now. We have been set an A Level Media project where we have to create a music video for an unsigned band; considering we really enjoy your music, we would love to use your song 'Rooftop'. It will never be used for profit and will only be viewed by the rest of my class and my teacher. There is also a possibility that the exam board will use it for training purposes but it will not be used for commercial use. I would like to make it clear that we only need permission to use your song and do not need your involvement.
Thank you.
Abi.
From: James Loughlin (jamesloughlin@hotmail.co.uk)
Sent: 07 October 2010 22:55:42
To: abiyorke@hotmail.co.uk
Hi Abi,
Firstly, thanks for getting in touch....
You're ok to use Rooftop if you like that's fine with us. Try and make it tasteful, not like the guys who did "oh me oh my" who filmed some dodgy bedroom scene with a bloke tied up. Turned out to be terrible and its on youtube now too without our permission!!
Keep us posted!
Good luck!
Jimmy
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Research and Planning: Analysis of 3 musicians.
1. The Kooks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6-QM0_Prp0&playnext=1&videos=Koz3wn4lDKM&feature=artistob
The music video for The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way is a very good example of how a indie video conventionally looks. It is lo-fi and the only purpose of the video is to show the tour of The Kooks and to show the fun, laid back nature of the band. This type of video would appeal to the audience of the indie genre because it does not take itself to seriously, which is classically the nature of the indie audience. The theorist, Andrew Goodwin said that there was a link between the visuals and the lyrics in every music video made. I feel that this video challenges this notion because the visuals on screen do not have any relevance to the song being played behind them. I think the band The Kooks did this because they did not want to be mainstream in their approach to music/music videos.
This is the CD cover for the single of The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way. It is fairly simple and does not relate to the nature of the video, although does have relevance to the song. This suits the indie genre because it shows the relaxed nature of the approach to music, with the band not wanting to be too mainstream. The way the black and white is used with the contrast of the blue writing of the title shows the significance of the song name to the band. This exemplifies the point that music is the most important element of the band, and not the band image which is the case with most mainstream bands/artists. This makes the band more individual in the industry, with their main concern being able to make really good music that their target audience will love.
The advertisement for The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way follows the same colour scheme as the digipack. The band have done this on purpose so that it is recognisable to be the same song and to make it stand out amongst the other indie music.
This is a music video for a different type of genre from the indie theme we are hoping to use. The dance genre uses the video to promote the emotional side to the music, showing people partying and doing what they love. This is typical of the dance music scene and is what people want to see when watching a video from this genre. The laid back style of video which mainly concentrates on showing off the music is brilliant for the dance/dubstep type of music. This is because the audience tend to want to focus on the music as opposed to a big production which would be more typical of a pop music video/song.
The CD cover is the same as the advert that has been used in magazines and on the television. The overall simplicity of the image shows us that the artist is very focussed on the music and not about the image of singer. This shows that the artist is very serious about their music and wants the audience to know that they are in the music industry for that reason, not to get famous or money. Even though this is a different genre to the one I am going to be using, I feel it is useful to look at several different artists and how they represent themselves in the music industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W_hEdt1Xes&feature=fvw
The video for Arctic Monkeys - When the sun comes down is hard hitting on the audience is several different ways. Firstly, the lyrics are very graphic and do not leave anything to the imagination. This is the type of song that the indie audience like and listen to which is why artists aim to shock. The video then mirrors the graphic imagery of the song and shows scenes of violence and inhumane activity.
The CD cover for this song is again in direct relation to the
lyrics and the overall hard hitting nature of the single. It shows and grotty old street which appears to be in a rough neighbourhood with no money. The Arctic Monkeys are trying to give their audience real life and not sugar coat any situation, which they rightfully succeed in. The simplicity of the CD cover shows the band have got a well established name for themselves in the industry and do not need to show off and have loads of publicity. The fact that the cover is in black and white gives the audience a good idea that the band are in the indie genre because they tend to have little colour. This is a regular trait in indie products. The CD cover and the advertisement which would appear in magazines and on television are exactly the same which shows the uncomplicated nature of the band and how they want to keep the marketing simple so as to not confuse the audience. This stratergy is used regularly in the music industry by a different artists and genres.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6-QM0_Prp0&playnext=1&videos=Koz3wn4lDKM&feature=artistob
The music video for The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way is a very good example of how a indie video conventionally looks. It is lo-fi and the only purpose of the video is to show the tour of The Kooks and to show the fun, laid back nature of the band. This type of video would appeal to the audience of the indie genre because it does not take itself to seriously, which is classically the nature of the indie audience. The theorist, Andrew Goodwin said that there was a link between the visuals and the lyrics in every music video made. I feel that this video challenges this notion because the visuals on screen do not have any relevance to the song being played behind them. I think the band The Kooks did this because they did not want to be mainstream in their approach to music/music videos.
This is the CD cover for the single of The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way. It is fairly simple and does not relate to the nature of the video, although does have relevance to the song. This suits the indie genre because it shows the relaxed nature of the approach to music, with the band not wanting to be too mainstream. The way the black and white is used with the contrast of the blue writing of the title shows the significance of the song name to the band. This exemplifies the point that music is the most important element of the band, and not the band image which is the case with most mainstream bands/artists. This makes the band more individual in the industry, with their main concern being able to make really good music that their target audience will love.
The advertisement for The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way follows the same colour scheme as the digipack. The band have done this on purpose so that it is recognisable to be the same song and to make it stand out amongst the other indie music.
This is a music video for a different type of genre from the indie theme we are hoping to use. The dance genre uses the video to promote the emotional side to the music, showing people partying and doing what they love. This is typical of the dance music scene and is what people want to see when watching a video from this genre. The laid back style of video which mainly concentrates on showing off the music is brilliant for the dance/dubstep type of music. This is because the audience tend to want to focus on the music as opposed to a big production which would be more typical of a pop music video/song.
The CD cover is the same as the advert that has been used in magazines and on the television. The overall simplicity of the image shows us that the artist is very focussed on the music and not about the image of singer. This shows that the artist is very serious about their music and wants the audience to know that they are in the music industry for that reason, not to get famous or money. Even though this is a different genre to the one I am going to be using, I feel it is useful to look at several different artists and how they represent themselves in the music industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W_hEdt1Xes&feature=fvw
The video for Arctic Monkeys - When the sun comes down is hard hitting on the audience is several different ways. Firstly, the lyrics are very graphic and do not leave anything to the imagination. This is the type of song that the indie audience like and listen to which is why artists aim to shock. The video then mirrors the graphic imagery of the song and shows scenes of violence and inhumane activity.
The CD cover for this song is again in direct relation to the
lyrics and the overall hard hitting nature of the single. It shows and grotty old street which appears to be in a rough neighbourhood with no money. The Arctic Monkeys are trying to give their audience real life and not sugar coat any situation, which they rightfully succeed in. The simplicity of the CD cover shows the band have got a well established name for themselves in the industry and do not need to show off and have loads of publicity. The fact that the cover is in black and white gives the audience a good idea that the band are in the indie genre because they tend to have little colour. This is a regular trait in indie products. The CD cover and the advertisement which would appear in magazines and on television are exactly the same which shows the uncomplicated nature of the band and how they want to keep the marketing simple so as to not confuse the audience. This stratergy is used regularly in the music industry by a different artists and genres.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Research and Planning: Music Video History.
Before MTV, the music video didn't have any real importance in the music industry. It is thought that MTV was the phenomenon that really gave birth to the music video. The early 1980s first saw videos representing music, with the first video to be played being 'Video killed the radio star' by The Buggles:
In 2005, YouTube, a large domain of videos, was created. This is where many bands, such as ErinPaulaa found fame. In conclusion, although music video's fans have tried to elevate this form of entertainment to the title of an art form, the music video is eventually just a work of commerce, destined to sell a product: the song.
Considering the channel was being played 24 hours a day 7 days a week, there was a large demand for videos to be made for every song that was released by artists. They therefore became an important role in a recording artists career. There then developed different genre's of music, including narrative, sexy and indie. The most successful music video of all time is said to be Michael Jackson 'Thriller':
Music video's have been developing into 'works of art' since the word go. With Thriller being a very high-tech complicated video, you then have the other end of spectrum with Feeder 'Just a day'; being lo-fi and using videos their fans had sent in, lip sinking to the song and making it into a video:
In 2005, YouTube, a large domain of videos, was created. This is where many bands, such as ErinPaulaa found fame. In conclusion, although music video's fans have tried to elevate this form of entertainment to the title of an art form, the music video is eventually just a work of commerce, destined to sell a product: the song.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Research and Planning: Spike Jonze.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0eQGJh-rkU MIA - Paper Planes.
All of Spike Jonze's music videos are random. They're low budget and have a quirky nature to them. The recurring theme appears to be aiming to shock the audience and give a memorable video to help the artist sell. When looking at these videos in comparison to the idea we have for our video, they are very different. We are hoping to do a reasonably conventional indie style video which appears to the masses who listen to the indie genre. This is because we feel that this will be the most effective when dealing with the indie genre because the audience do not tend to appreciate too much change from what they already know and love. When looking at exisiting indie videos, they all appear to follow the same rules.
Research and Planning: Narrative: Propp.
the hero in this video is a white good looking male who does have a point of view shot.
the princess is an attractive white female who shows her body in representation of reward for the hero.
This video is very mainstream showing a clear love story to the audience.
We feel that this video is linked to the dominant representation of a typical male hero because he is an attractive white male. Therefore it is very stereotypical.
The princess in the video is also pretty and therefore is a good reward for the hero and does not challenge dominant representation. It follows the mainstream thang.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Research and Planning: Narrative - Todorov.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEukS2YN9B8
Guy walking down the street - Equilibrium.
Lady jumping off roof - Disruption.
He finds her shoe and looks up to see her - Recognition.
They have coffee - Reparation.
She chases him and he kicks off - Reparation.
Guy walks off - New Equilibrium.
She runs on to the roof and does the same again - New Equilibrium.
Who causes disruption? The girl on the roof.
Who resolves narrative? The guy by walking off.
Can you link to representation? Stereotypical that a young, white, good looking man has the resolution of the narrative.
Friday, 17 September 2010
Research and Planning
this song related the lyrics to the music through movements and images on screen. it also has multiple close ups of the artist and the video relates to the genre of music. there is no voyeurism present in the video because it is by a female artist.
this video uses a lot of voyeurism and the camera is mostly focused on the artist at a close up position. There is a lot of relation between the lyrics and the video for example they write what they sing on the video. this video is genre related as it is a rap video and the video has stereotypical features such as women dancing in limited clothing.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Research and Planning: Exploration of exisiting videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-L7Cadb-c0&feature=featured
Sheila by Jamie T. The video is quirky and unusual. It is likely to appeal to a younger more rebellious audience.
Beyonce - Single Ladies. This video is mainstream and attempting to appeal to the mass audience. It will appeal to young teenage girls.
Drake - Forever. This video takes itself quite seriously because it has 4 major artists of their genre. It appeals to many people, mainly teenagers.
Kings of Leon - Use Somebody. This video has a element of seriousness to delivering the music and it feels very authentic. It is likely to appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Eminem - Love the way you lie. This video is a narrative and tells a story all the way through. It appeals to a wide range of audiences.
Akon - Beautiful. This video had a sexy element to it by the presence of all the ladies. It would appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Thursday, 9 September 2010
First Video Production Skills Audit.
1. Lighting.
2. Wider use of computer technologies.
3. Better use of the sound system.
4. Make better use of different audiences when doing research.
5. Learn what Reconnaissance is.
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Post-Production: Digital Technology.
The editing of the video was the most difficult part of the whole process because, with the Busted video, there are so many different shot changes in such a short time that you have to move it on so fast AND match up the music. We faced some problems when completing the editing; such as some of the music was cut so it was all in the wrong place, and one frame being put somewhere that it was not supposed to be so we had to move it and then change everything else as well. I think we should have had a clear storyboard in front of us to show us where each shot was and how long it lasted, which we should have thought of and planned before beginning the editing. I felt like the tool which outs a dot on a specific point (?) was very helpful because it helped us match up the different words that are said to what the music is saying. Also, the cutting tool was useful because we were able to get rid of long pieces of unwanted material with ease.
Production.
During this production task, I learnt that you have to be very well organised for everything to go well. You also need to have a reliable group of people who will always turn up to every shoot and on time with costumes ready. For our task, some people who played extras did not turn up so we had to ask a random person to step in and play a role for us. This is not to be expected by class mates but when faced with a problem we have to over come it. Also, some people did not bring costumes so we put them at the back on the shoot so it looked like there were still there but you could not see there outfits. I feel that the shoot went very well and we overcame our problems because we worked well together as a team. Next time we do a shoot, I intend to work with reliable people who are definitely going to attend every lesson.
Production: Digital Technology.
When I began the AS Media course, I did not have extensive knowledge of different technologies that are used in video production. I learnt how to use Adobe Premiere which made it possible for us to complete the editing upon the video. I feel that this programme was difficult to use to begin with, but got easier and I can more familiar with the tools. We used the video cameras when filming the video which are straight forward to use and produce good quality film. We also used YouTube to put our final video on which has been used throughout the AS Course.
During the task, I learnt that getting the lip syncing completely in time was very difficult and took a lot of practice to make perfect. I also discovered that for a video to look professional you have to work at the shot changes for a lot of time which we simply did not have because of the limiting time frame of college.
In my A2 Course, I would hope to develop my use of Adobe Premiere because I feel that it is a programme which becomes easier to use with practise. I would also like to become a lot better at matching up lip syncing to music because the finished product looks great!
Monday, 5 July 2010
Research and Planning.
To begin the task we had to do some research into which video we were going to create and then plan how we would carry out the making of the piece. We chose to do 'Busted - That's what i go to school for' because it does not have too many characters and is set in a school environment which we were in. We watched a remake of the video to give us an idea of what the final piece would look like and then completed story boards to make the process easy and flowing. I found that story boards made the task easier because it was clearly outlined what we needed to do and we were able to follow the plan.
I feel that we should have planned all the invidual shots more clearly because we were having to refer back to the original video to decided what shot to do next.
I feel that in the A2 course we should we be doing more planning with shot types and different camera angles because this is where we struggled to replicate the exact video. The storyboard method proved very effective because we could see the different scenes in which different characters were going to be in clearly outlined. For this reason, I would use the method again.
Introduction.
For the beginning of our A2 Media Studies Course, we were asked to remake a well known pop video and then complete the editing on the final piece. This is because in the A2 course we are having to do this and this is used as practise for the following tasks.
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