Evaluation..

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

Technology meant alot to our A2 coursework and allowed us to make our video unique with the split screen, allowed us to produce a well designed poster and digipak and also use better quality pictures and video footage. Without modern technology our products would be limited and not very interesting with grainy images. Technology was used throughout our coursework; from research to the evaluation.

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Research

We used YouTube to find music videos from our genre and analyse them so we could find codes and conventions we could choose to conform or challenge to appeal to our target audience. Without doing this we could of missed some really important points to do with our genre.

We researched videos such as..

The King Blues - Head butt

The Kooks - Naive

Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over

Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out 

The Wombats - Lets Dance To Joy Division

We also used YouTube to find our unsigned bands song which we later converted in order for us to use it as an mp3 file.

 

We used Google/internet to search for unsigned band websites to discover our artist. From our Google search we used websites such as www.unsigned.co.uk to search through to look for the perfect unsigned band's single for us to use for our music video.  In the end we did not find it this way and found it through YouTube instead, but we spend hours searching through like www.unsigned.co.uk. Without the internet we would not of found a song to use for our coursework.

We also looked for pictures such as the album digipaks and posters using Google search.

 
As a group we used Blogger to document all our work, from research, to planning and showing our final products. It was better to use than paper because anyone could access it anywhere aslong there was internet connection. I even installed the Blogger application on my iPhone and occasionally added to work on the move, which was very useful.









 

We used scanners and cameras to put images of digipaks onto our blogs because they were hard to find on the internet and then analyse them. We also used this tecnhique to put the pictures of our print products on our blog and the drafts to document our progress.

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Planning

We used Facebook and mobile phones, whether it be calls or texts, to arrange work load or when and where we were meeting each other and cast to film. This was handy and effective because of the amount teenagers use technology, we knew as a group, communicating like this we could arrange things quickly as people would respond quickly to suggestions.

 

We used Celtx to create the story board for filming so that each shot and angle was shown, making it easier for us to film more efficiently meaning we did not make mistakes and need to keep arranging a meeting for all our cast to attend.

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Construction

As a group we used DSLR cameras to take pictures and also film, as I have a new Nikon DSLR that also captures videos in HD, so we were lucky to be able to capture better quality footage. Although occasionally through our video you can tell that the camera was not focused properly but not so that the footage looks strange. The one part of the music video where the girls and the boy were walking down the road is blurry because we used the unfocusing to an advantage to create the effect that the audience were viewing upon the situation and it was almost dreamy because the situation was now common and not so obvious - it looks like the changing girls is not obvious to the viewer until they get nearer to the camera lense. Without the use of the cameras and video cameras we would not of been able to complete our coursework so these were vital. However, the quality was not really important to produce our coursework, but to us it was taken seriously because if we could produce something that looks nicer and more like real media products, why not?

 iMovie is the main editing software we used to put our video together and we used this for 3, maybe more, weeks to make sure our video was precisely edited. We did not use many transitions other than fade from black at the start..
 




..and fade to black at the end along with the fade to white which were used in between the girls and the picture of them and the boy in the narrative to represent 

a camera flash.

We also used iMovie to crop footage to vary camera shots if we needed and it helped us move footage around so that the lip-syncing was accurate.

Final Cut we used simply for our split screen, it was complicated to achieve as we had never used the program before. Because we knew the outcome would be really effective because no other group was doing so, I tried my best to try and complete the split screen. I turned to a Youtube tutorial to follow a step by step guide on how to create it. This is the video I followed..

Once we finished it we were really pleased with the result and the originality it gave our video.

Zamzar is a file converting site that we used to convert our chosen song from youtube into an mp3 file which we could import into iMovie. There were other options we could of chose like www.youtube-mp3.org so zamzar wasn't a critical site but the idea was, in order to get the song into iMovie as we did not have the original mp3 file.

 We used a PDF file to create our digipak on a template we were provided. The was easier using this template to create an accurate, realistic digipak.

 

 We used Microsoft Word to create our poster because it is easy to use and allows you to freely move things around and add pictures, autoshapes and text to make an accurate and detailed deisgn.

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Evaluation

For our evaluation I chose to use Blogger to present it, where as some people used PowerPoint or other forms. I chose blogger to keep my work consistant, in one place and because I do not particularly like using PowerPoint. Technology has allowed me to do this, other wise my evalution would be hand written on paper along with the rest of research and other writting work I have done for my coursework. This would be awkward because there would be lots of pieces of paper, which would be hard to keep organise and keep neat where as having a blog can be used any where and is all in one place.

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2. In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Conforms:

- Our band consists of male members which suits our audience research because the majority of people said they associated male rather than female band members.

- We have used a narrative as well as performance in our music video which is a common aspect of real music videos and also it is what our audience wanted.

- We used straight cuts to create realism in our video which is used in a lot of music videos to make them look as much like real life as possible.

- The shaggy hair of the band members and the costume, such as tshirts and chinos are common in modern day indie music because that is the indie style. One member of the band is wearing tracksuit bottoms however, which is not what we planned but did not have time to make him change. However, they are grey and are not obvious due to him sitting down playing the drums.

Kings of Leon

One Direction - Not necessarily the indie genre but indie fashion

The Kooks

- Our audience said they would not associate dark colours with the indie genre, however that is what we discovered from our research so that is what we chose to do. There for we challenged what our audience said but conformed to other media products.

- On our poster we have included: the name of the band and album, the date it is released, the bonus information such as the featured song, the website, the image and the downloading information. These are all common features of an album advertisement poster. We also stuck to the blacks, greys and whites to conform to the idea of dark colours.

- On our digipak we have included bold images of our band and created them in a stylish way, like the grids of two band members and the image of their backs for the back - this quirkiness is classic indie style. We have also used minimal text; only the album title and band name and song titles. We have also included the institutions logo and bar code which are all conventions of real digipaks.

Challenges:

- Serious facial expressions appeared in almost all of the indie products we looked at but because of the song we chose we thought that making them more fun loving was important and would maybe make the video happier and more appealing to audiences.

- A new character in our narrative does not conform to most of the videos we watched during our research but unfortunately, we did plan to include the lead singer but this did not go to plan as he refused to do so. Therefor we had to include another male to play the narrative but we think it works just as well and the audience understand the idea.

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3. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I think our products are all effective because of the quality we have made them, with crisp images and high standard filming and editing. Our products show our band as a close knit friendship group who love their music and enjoy performing; this is shown through the images on the digipak where they are all standing close and in our video they are laughing and smiling with each other when performing. 

 We think we have done well to show our band how we wanted them to be portrayed and we have evidence of this being a success through our audience feedback.

People were asked by us if they liked our products and if they would buy the products themselves and everybody we asked thoroughly enjoyed our video because "the song is lively and catching and the narrative really makes the audience engage with the situation and the lyrics." They also said that the "images are striking" on our poster and digipak and "the layout is creative and well planned." 
As a promotional tool I think they would work well because the colours, images and style is consistant and the images of the band are not taken badly to taint the look of the band. Also the digipak and the poster are designed simply, to not bombard the audience with information and so they can actually read the poster without getting 'bored'. Also the images are quite large and images tend to attract people more than a mass of text, which is a positive for our products.

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4. What have you learnt from audience feedback?

Our audience feedback pointed out some aspects that were not as good as they good of been, which we had already noticed during the evaluation process. There were no major points that the audience found irratating or wrong, which is a positive!

We were pleased by the amount of positive feedback we got and learnt that our products were successful and gave our target market a form of entertainment that they enjoyed, which was our objective to do so.

Final Music Video

Poster Planning..

First Idea Annotated..

Second Idea Annotated..

Final Design

Digipak Planning..

For the second part of our coursework, we have to create two products to co side with our music video product; these are a album digipack, and a advertisement poster for the album. 

We had to start with the album digi pack as we can't create an adverisement poster for a non exsistent album. We were given draft sheets with either four sides or six sides. We knew that we wanted to use a six side digi pack from the start as we had took many photos of the band when we filmed the performance stage and had enough to fill it all up. Also, from our analysis of digipacks, those from an indie rock genre are often quite detailed or have a lot of images of the band themselves so they are recognisable to the audience. We wanted to combine this theme into our digipacks to ensure they met the audienes needs and were created well.

We began by roughly drafting different ideas and different layouts and then annotating the elements we included to see if we had covered enough, to ensure we are consistently meeting the genre's codes and conventions and the audiences expectations. 

First Draft

- as we can see, there are lots of different images here with a good combination of camera shots and angles. Our main focus was ensuring audience's could identify each band member thoroughly, by taking good quality photos, but also through the positioning in the frame. In the top left hand corner, we see the band positioned in there usual places while performing. We feel this image captures each band members role in the band, but also places the lead at the front as this is who audiences would recognise the most and relate too. As a common convention of the indie rock genre, instruments such as different styles of guitars (often a bass, acoustic or electric) and a drum kit are very common, particuarly with the band/song of our choice. We wanted to reinforce this aspect by placing an image of the set up, behind the place where the CD goes. We felt it was unessescary using an image of the band here as the CD would cover it and take away the focus. The bottom left hand corner image appears to be a collage of portfolio shots of each band member. We thought this mixed up the simple theme, and added a good twist to it by focusing on the band's faces rather than a full length shot or mid shot which is what we have included throughout. This is definitley an aspect we want to use in the final digi pack. 

Second Draft

- this draft is very similar to the previous; the only differnece is that one of the images is different (top left hand corner) and the positioning of each image in what frame varies too. For this draft, we used the collage style of portfolio shots of each band member, as the front cover. As much as we love the idea of a collage style being involved in our digipack, we feel as a front cover, it draws the attention away from what we are trying to encode in our digi pack, which is ensuring the band are identified as a unity. Indie rock bands don't only perform together but are often best friends, go out together, tour together and so forth, and are often shown as a close band together. Therefore, this is what we wanted to show on the front image. Because of this, we believe this draft won't work as well as what we had anticipated therefore we wont be using it, but the rest of images and annotations we have provided e.g. black backgrounds to connote indie rock genre highlight the look we want our digi pack to have.

Third Draft 

- Although we were pretty certain on using a six side digi pack, we wanted to explore using the four sides anyway just in case we liked it once we had finished drafting. We chose what we believed to be our best photographs or ideas, to be in the four sides. We chose a plain mid shot of the band members together as the front cover, as this identifies them as a group but also is a direct shot as they are looking at the camera which will create a personal relationship with the audience. As much as we felt it was important to do this, we still are much more fond of the six side digi pack. 

First Mock Up

We used our initial ideas, favourite images and ideas to create our first rough mock up of what our digi pack should look like. We're really happy with the outcome of where and how the images are placed together and we love the design on the two inside covers. With two band members been combined with 3 images out of 6 on each side. Each image is different but we feel it really enables the audience to identify each band member in full, but also as a band. The combinations of shots, angles and designs used really gives our digi pack a twist, which adds edge which is what the genre is all about. 

Front Cover

Inside View

Full inside view (Centre image is the CD slot)

Back Cover

We need to progress our digi pack and involve the;

• Album title
• Island Records logo
• Bar code
• Black strip between the back cover and inside right cover where the fold is
• Lyrics around the individual images on band members
• Alter the font to fit the genre more
• Make the song list look more professional

Final Design

F

Costume Ideas..

Dark colours, chinos and checked shirts to conform to the stereotypical indie genre.

Rehearsal and Shooting Schedule and Location..

Our rehearsal will take place on the 12th of October. We need all the people that are going to be in the filming taking place on the 13th October. These people are the lead singer and the 6 girls he is seeing as we are filming everything other than the performing part of our video.

 

We will need:

everyone needs a mobile phone to pretend to use

the song to be accessible, on one of our groups phones 

The location is not important at this point as we are just looking at the actors and to see if they know the words and what they have to do, ready for filming tomorrow.




Problems with the Location

Unfortunately, we faced a few issues with our chosen location for the performance setting. Firstly, it was situated in Selly Oak which meant that our cast members would have to travel to the location, also we would have to take all of the equipment down with us and then bring it back up to the school after we had finished filming. We also didn't know the amount of time we would need to film the overall performance section of our video and the Location in Selly Oak only offered specific time spots in which we were able to film.

Therefore, as a group, we thought it would be best to change the location to somewhere more convenient for both us and those participating in the video. We decided to use the drama studio in our school as the new location. We chose this for several reasons. Firstly, it was easier for the cast of the video to get too. Secondly, it was more suitable for using the instruments in school rather than having to carry them elsewhere. Thirdly, it meant that we didn't necessarily have to worry about how long we were using the location for - the drama studio was available from 3pm to 6pm each weekday. Fourthly, the location was easy to access if we needed to film the scenes again. And finally, it meant that we were able to rehearse in the location thoroughly in order to analyse any problems with the set-up overall before the filming took place. 




Shooting Schedule

Videos that also use our idea..

We have found some other videos that use the idea of flicking between different people in one motion and also the split screen effect.

They are not from the same genre but they are just a visual aid to see what the idea would look like and as a group we think it will look effect if we edit it precisely and accurately.

Example - Kick starts 

This video is exactly how we want our editing to look and this video uses editing perfectly to display the flicking-between-people effect in a single motion to create a sense of numbers - as in more than one person. It is used frequently and, along with the split screen, it appears to be the main focus of the video and connotes that the meaning of the lyrics are not just felt by the singer.

Nero - Crush on you

This video only features the effect at 0.25 seconds and it fits in with the beat which is effective. Although it only really features this one flicking between people effect, it features the idea of one boy having lots of girlfriends which is like our synopsis.