Compare and Contrast

This is our video from our AS Foundation task. We had to make a short 2 minute film opening, and we were only allowed to use copyright free music.

Media Evaluation

Media Evaluation

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

First of all we had to look at different types of genres for music. Indie/hip hop/R “n” B/acoustic/ easy listening. Pete and Karin had taken up music technology they had come back to me with a song that they had found whilst on a trip. They had asked the people in the year below who had written the song if it was ok for us to use their song and they had given us permission. They decided to play me the song and I thought that it was a perfect song choice. So we had now decided to pick this song. The song was called " The City " this falls into each all of these genres: easy listening/middle of the road, Slightly indie and acoustic.

We decided to do this song for a number of different reasons. The first reason was that we were familiar with that type of genre so we already had the knowledge and we just had to apply it. Another reason why we chose this song was because we were not able to use copy-righted music, so therefore we had to fid a piece of music that we felt would be the right piece music to do a video too. We first of all looked at a song from one of our teachers at school as he was part of a band so we thought that it would be a good idea if we went and saw him and asked him if we would be able to use any of his music. When we first went to ask him he said he was not sure and that he would have to ask the other members in his band. He came back to us with a CD with a number of different tracks. We listened to a few of the tracks and we were not really sure about a few of them however we liked one of the slower tracks. I asked the teacher to write out the lyrics and we decided to see if we could find anything else just incase.

After deciding what song we were going to do we had to research similar artists to ours. Here are a few examples of the artists that we looked at: James Blunt, David Gray, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, Newton Faulkner, Jose Gonzalez andPaulo Nutini. After looking closely at each of their music videos for knowledge and inspiration we found that each of their videos contained the following: Mixture of performance and narrative, Performance - guitar shots, Slow Motion a different range of shots such as Close Up, Panning, Tracking, Establishing and the use of Black and White effect.

After looking at each of the videos and finding out what they had in them we then agreed that we would try and have these features in our music video as we wanted to follow the conventions of videos from similar artists. After watching the different songs from the other artists, we tried to think of what would look good in our video. We decided that one of the main features that we would try and replicate from another video was the mixture of performance and narrative. After listening to the song we had chosen to do we knew that this would be a good idea as it would go with the story in the song. The videos that we watched had various different settings. After listening to our song choice we thought that Bristol was the best possible place to film the majority of our song. We chose Bristol for a number of different reasons. The first reason we chose Bristol was that Bristol is a city so therefore it would represent the city from the song. A second reason in which we chose Bristol was because we felt that there were many different areas in which we would be able to film and that would look good in our video.

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

We decided to do a website and digipak. The reason why we decided to do a digipak and a website was because we had never done a website before so we wanted to take on the challenge of doing something new and we also felt that by doing the website we would be able to improve our skills. Before we were able to produce both the website and the digipak we had to do research on other artists and see how we could replicate theirs and develop one for our own. We started off by looking at templates of digipaks and deciding which one we felt would be best suited for us. After much discussion we decided to go for the 6 panel digipak because we felt that there was a lot areas in which we would be able to do different things.

When making our website and our digipak we had to take into consideration continuity. We did this by keeping the same font for the digipak and for the website title. We did this because we wanted it to be known that this was Josh Embury’s style. The way in which we linked the main product and the ancillary tasks together I feel was the picture than we used on both the website and the digipak. I feel that by using this picture, it firstly supports the genre as the picture is not to over the top and secondly by using the picture you are able to recognize that it is the picture that is on the digipak as well as the website.

Looking back on the task I feel that our digipak could have been done better. I am pleased with our website because I feel that the website represents the artist/the genre in a good way. I think that with out digipak we could have done more research into making one and what was on the inside as well as the outside of each one. I think that when we made our digipak we were not really sure of what to put on the inside so therefore I feel that this is where our knowledge was lacking. I think that we did not spend enough time on looking at other artists digipaks in the same genre as us so I feel that this is an area that could be improved if we were to do the tak again.

3). What have you leanerd from your audience feedback?

The target audience for our music video is teenagers that are around the age of 16-17. We also feel that are target audience is listeners of acoustic, easy listening or slightly indie. We feel that they are the target audiences for our song because we are of similar age and we feel that we know what the majority of people our age would like. We feel that they would be able to relate to the performer and they would think that the song is a good song for them to listen too. We feel that our music video would target both males and females because the song is not just targeted at one specific gender. We also think that both males and females may also be able to relate to the storyline/plot of the song.

The main way that we tried to attract this target audience is by using actors/actresses of the same age so that they are able to relate to the issues within our production. Also, we chose to film most of the video in Bristol. By doing this it would allow people of that age group to relate this and be able to say that they have travelled to a big city before and that they were looking for something whether it was someone or something. Another way in which we targeted our audience was by the effects that we used. By having effects such as speed up, reverse and slow down it would allow the audience to really like the video as the audience that we are targeting like the effects. We also used black and white in part of our music video. By having this effect it also showed a variation and I think that by doing this it meant that our audience would not get bored when watching the video and they would stay focused. One final way in which I think we attracted our audience was by using a car in our production for some of the filming. More people of this age group are starting to drive/learn to drive so I feel that they are able to relate to the driving situation.

Because our target audience is people of our own age we decided that we would get a people from our year in our 6th form to watch the video and leave comments on what they thought. We decided to create a questionnaire as we thought this would be the best possible way in which we would be able to get feedback. It would also be a way in which we would be able to ask specific questions that we wanted to find out. Our questions included:

• Did you think the narrative of the video suited the song?

• Did you think that the performance and the recording of the video was of a high quality?

• Was the editing of the video done at a high standard? e.g. transitions?

• What did you think about the shots? Were they the right shots to use and were they placed in the right place?

• What would you change and why?

These questions covered a wide area in which we wanted our target audience to think about. The results were vital because it would determine whether or not our target audience understood what our video was about.

Here are some of the answers that we got to each question:

These were the answers that we got to question 1:

• Yes, because it followed the story of the song and it made sense to fit it to the song.

• The lyrics did tie in with the song.

• Yes, good symbolism/representation, especially the reverse shot at the end

These were the responses to question 2:

• Yes, apart from the four people moving around, they looked messy.

• The people holding the cards could have been organised a bit better.

• Overall the quality was very good.

• The acting/performance was very strong.

Here is what people had to say when answering question 3:

• Although I could tell where the transitions were, but they worked very well with the song.

• Yes, good sense of flow.

• All very good, except for part with the random people with cards.

• The use of the ghosting edit from I Movie was very good.

These were the answers given to question 4:

• The use of shots of the City worked very well for the song and definitely were in the right place.

• They tied in well.

• Yes, although there was a lot of focus on the signs, which were slightly confusing.

• The part where the traffic went past looked very professional

Question 5 saw these answers:

• Get rid of the people holding the cards because they didn't work with the song

Take out the people with the symbols as the transitions to them weren't smooth enough.

By getting this feedback it means that we are able to develop our product and make it so that our target audience do not get confused and so that they feel the video is better than it was. We need to make sure that we are able to do this because they are our target audience and if they do not like the video then it means that we have not been able to follow the conventions of a music video in the genre.

4). What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

There are number of different technology programmes that I have learnt to use this time round which are new to me. The first thing that was new to me was a blog. Previously I had never used a blog before so when I found out that I had to use a blog I was quite excited at being able to develop my skills further. Blogger.com allows you to keep a record of how the process is going. We were able to keep a diary of how the research/filming processes were going and how the editing stages were also going. Blogger also allowed us to have a look at other members in our school and see how their blogs/films were going. By having blogger it meant that we were able to work from home as well as from school as we were able to access the site from home. This meant that when we had come back from some filming we were able to record he results and say how it had gone. Another new piece of technology that was new to me was the programme called Iweb. Iweb is a programme that is a guideline for making a website. We decided to use Iweb because we hadn’t used it before so we thought that it would benefit us because we would learn how to use the programme. One other programme that I have learnt about when constructing this product is photoshop. As we did a film opening for our as foundation task we had not needed to use this programme before so therefore did not know what it was. When we first came across the programme we were not really sure on how to use it but then we were given a lesson on how to use it so we were able t improve our skills. This meant that we were able to do more advanced things such as layer pictures or use different effects on the pictures.

Then there was technology that the group was familiar with and this played a vital part in the process. The main piece of technology that was used was the Internet. This allowed us to go on site such as Youtube.com and Google.com. By going on these site it meant that we were able to watch other artists videos and see what features were most common in the genre. It also allowed us to visit artists websites, this meant that we would get an understanding of what we would need to have on our website in order to follow the convention. The second piece of technology that the group was familiar with was IMovie HD. We were familiar with this programme as we had used it in our foundation task. However when we were editing we did come across one problem. We tried to speed up a clip and put it in black and white but we were not successful. We tried this a number of times but we still had the same problem. However we overcame this problem and managed to put in the different effects that we wanted. This was good for us in a way because it allowed us to develop our knowledge and understanding further and meant that are skills had been developed. We also used Itunes. Itunes allowed us to listen to different songs. This helped with research and helped with the choice of our song. When we were listening to our song on Itunes it meant that we were able to listen to the song a number of times or were able to pause the song for inspiration for what we could put in the music video.

What is the purpose of a music video

What is a music video?

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action.

What is the purpose of a music video?

The Purpose of a Music Video is to accompany a song and be used as a device for promotion of the artist, the sale of music records and other merchandise.

Music Videos use a wide range of film making techniques and use various different styles:

• Narrative
• Abstract
• Animation
• Live Action
• Documentary

You can also have a mixture of a few of these key styles, through this music videos are able to explore lots of different stylistic features.

Styles may vary depending on the style. For example live action from concert gigs may be used more by acoustic artists and more narrative story lines for r 'n' b and rap videos.

Our Digipak

Wen we started making our digipak we decided that we we going to have a comic trip of Josh. We wanted to have this on the inside on the digipak because we felt that this would be quite a nice feature.

The photos of Josh were taking at the photo shoot that we stayed behind to do after school. We each sat down to have a look at the different images. We started off by eliminating which images we did not like or images that we felt we could not use. This was a long process as we had taken a number of different pictures. We picked these pictures because we feel as if they tell a story.

Here you can see the progress in which the digipak has had. you can seen how the comic strip is starting to take place. We are still not sure on where we should have the Acknowledgements and what colour/font to have it in.

Here is our final dipak. We are really happy with the way things turned out and we really like comic strip.We feel that the pictures that were used in the comic strip look quite professional and give off the professional look. We also feel that the song title/back page works really well as it is unique but still relates to our genre and the artist/songs.

After playing around with the writing we felt that the position of the left had corner for the acknowledgements. We felt this because it is not getting in the way of anything.

One thing we have discussed is the yellow text box and the white writing. We feel that this is something that needs work and we are trying to find a way to solve this problem.

Digipak

For our first ancillary task, the Digipak, we researched into what these were and how they were presented.

We found out that a Digipak is a patented style of compact disk or DVD packaging.

We saw that a Digipak can have as many different panels as you want it to have. We discussed it and said that we quite liked the 6 panel version. Also the use of booklets within a digipak is not essential as not all of them involve it, therefore this is something that we have decided not to include. We will however include the main conventions that we have discovered a Digipak includes, these are:

• Cover Image
• Back Cover Image
• Song Titles
• Bonus Feature
• Colour Scheme
• Other Images

We found this net on the internet which tells the exact measurements needed to make the Digipak the correct size.

We will use this as a guide for ours. After asking a teacher in the technology department in school what the best way to make this would be they told us about a programme called 2D Design, this will allow us to input all the measurements into the computer and then add our Digipak to them. Then a special machine which the computer is linked up to creates and prints the project.

We have chosen to use the following image as our cover shot:

We used photoshop to create the pop art effect by using the layering tool. We changed the colour scheme to just black and white. We wanted to keep it quite simple and effective and so it would go with our website. For the title and artist test we used a number different fonts and colours before deciding the colour.