EVALUATION

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

During the research for our music video we looked at artists such as Evanescence to inspire us to create a similar video to hers. Through using sites such as YouTube we found other videos like Kelly Clarkson’s Because of You which also inspired us. We looked at these artists’ blogs and websites too so we could gain an idea of what ours should look like. Also Christina Perri herself has a website which we found very helpful as we took photo ideas and used them with our own actress.

In order to undertake some research we had done some analysis on existing music videos that were by artists and bands such as The Script and Kelly Clarkson who are signed bands and artists. This enabled us to distinguish the techniques we could use within our music video; in order to present that we had undertook a lot of research and had used it as our foundation level, therefore in our presentation we had shown how important it was to us and how it had helped us. We also had completed another analysis which was based upon existing bands and artist’s websites, from this we were able to understand that having developed a specific atmosphere it enabled the reader sustain what the artist is like. It also allows the reader to develop some understanding of the artist’s personality.

Due to online technology being a common way to distribute and encourage people in society consume music or other media content today, the process of trying to approach our audience became easier. With having all of our work technically based it was easier for us however it is also an up to date way to target our audience. With having a blog, it is encouraging as anyone is able to access the blog and there does not have to be a specific logging in identification. 

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Throughout the project we have received feedback from out teachers and peers within our class. One of the most important pieces of feedback we received was from another group in our media class. This group filled out a chart to gives us an idea of what they think to our music video. The group decided that almost every aspect of our music video was either ‘good’ or ‘excellent.’ This gave us more confidence within our project, which gave us the drive to carry on and improve what we had done so far.

Using the group feedback we received and feedback received from the teacher, we decided to reshoot certain shots that we had already filmed to gain better marks. Our teacher suggested that we use more movement within our music video to make the scenes seem more dramatic, which would be more suitable as the song we chose was a very depressing and sad song. Therefore we filmed a few moving shots to replace the existing static shots that we already filmed.

The feedback we received throughout this project was very helpful as it allowed us to improve our music video, making it more possible to achieve a higher grade when we hand in the coursework.

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

In order to maintain a clear image and theme, throughout our process of completing our music video we had done independent research and planning so that we were able to keep focused on the main storyline. Given the fact that there were some changes throughout the process, for instance our storyline had changed due to the influences of the narrative meeting typical expectations, although we wanted to develop a unique idea and with the support of having presented our presentation to our teacher and audience, we were able to sustain how we could make the narrative appear interesting. When having noticed this we had undertaken the planning process once again and adapted it. We also had the support of our storyboard which allowed us to follow a specific order so that we kept organised and had control of what we were doing. With comparing and contrasting our music video to our website design, they both create a similar ambiance as they focus on the impact of isolation and being lonely. With having looked at Christina Perris’ images on Google, so that we could maintain a similar image with our actress, it enabled us to develop a similar style, however we found that it would be better to develop some independent ideas of our own, by, using a wedding dress in our music video, and also having the actress wear heavy make up so that we were able to gain a gory atmosphere. The tone of the website is set in black and white, in comparison to the music video we had also used black white scenes in order to put forward to the audience that the singer is reflecting back to the past. Though, on our website we had taken a photo of the actress which was placed on the website in colour, and the image is placed in a forest which has a misty foggy feel developed. With doing this, we wanted to emphasise the time, by reflecting on inevitable events that happened in the past and events that happened in the present time. With the reflection technique we wanted to emphasise that it was all a dream, with having the cold feeling we thought that it had supported the technique well. We also used the effect of having barbed wires which continued off a banner which had Christina Perris’ name written on it which had love hearts which were destroyed, in black and healthy love hearts in red. We developed this technique so that it is clear that as a soul dies a new soul grows. This enables the reader to understand and experience the hurt and pain yet also the strengths of becoming strong and independent again. We had also found that it would have been interesting to have some writing on the front page so that the audience is able to receive and update, we also thought it would have been a good idea to have a shot of our music video process which would allow the audience develop some interest in how the music video was constructed and that it has been released.

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

Our media product’s genre is an indie love song. We did stick to the conventions in some ways, yet we changed them to make the video more dramatic, therefore interesting and aesthetically pleasing. Originally we were going to completely follow the song’s lyrics and actual meaning by making storyline into; ‘boy meets girl, they fall in love, they break up’. However, we thought this idea would be far too typical and make the video seem boring.  So we decided to take the lyrics literally and end the song with the boy breaking the girl’s heart and stabbing her (collecting his jar of hearts). Up until the end of the video, its narrative may seem confusing, which we thought would make the audience interested to see what happens next. Also, the confusion is justified as the video is set in the girls dream which is revealed at the end. We made the indie song into a gothic video by using fake blood and locations which corresponded with the lyrics. Although the lyrics don’t mention a wedding or a white dress, we used a wedding dress as the costume for our actress. We thought that this would portray despair and bitterness stronger than average, everyday clothing. Therefore we challenged not only the conventions of the indie genre but the actual meaning of this particular song, by creating another way in which it could be interpreted. Therefore, our product shows it differentiates from the typicality’s that are shown in other song’s videos similar to “Jar of Hearts”.

Completed Website

This is our completed website. We have put icons such as twitter and facebook in the bottom left hand corner as christina herself is a member of these sites. We designed the border, barbed wire and falling petals on photoshop. We decided to represent the feelings of happiness at the top of the page which blends into the sorrow at the bottom of the page.  

Completed Digipack

This is the final design of our digipack. We are very proud of the end result. We used Adobe Photoshop to create the effects, text and graphics you can see here. The use of colour is an important aspect of the design, which adds an sad, dull atmosphere to the mood. Using coloured people on a black and white background gives the digipack an 'art-house' feel, looking both professional and creative.

Completed Music Video

We are extremely happy with the finished music video that we have produced. As a group we have put large amounts of effort into creating a professional and music industry standard music video. The time and effort dedicated to this project has paid off and we are very happy with the result. We have used feedback given from other groups and teachers to continuously improve our work.

17/12/2010

In today's lesson we watched other people's music videos and got feedback from others in our class. In most aspects of our work, the other group that watched our video gave us mostly excellent with three goods. The goods were; overall creativity, using a variety of shots and matching the sound with images and editing to suit the music.

14th December 2010

Above is a screen grab of our Website, we felt that we needed to divide the work equally and focus on both the editing and website and CD designing equally. With designing the website we found that it would be a good idea to have sub headings which are followed by writing and also images of the music video. We are also looking to add a barbed wire effect which carries on  from the pattern in the title and we found that it would be a good idea to have hearts attached and falling off some which are healthy and some which are broken.

Within our lessons we have been focusing on completing our editing for our music video. We have been able to emerge the forest clips with the beginning clips which are set in the hall. We have also been adding some effects as we have been going along, to ensure that we don't forget the techniques when we will be adding effects to the whole video. Here are some Screen grabs of our music video.

Friday 26th November 2010

This lesson we started to edit the footage we captured in our video shoots so that we can put the clips in time with the music. We managed to get 26 seconds done, and were able to add some effects as we were editing.

Tuesday 23rd November 2010

Today we were working on our website design mainly, and we have made several changes to the layout. With comparing the new design to the old one, it appears more realistic and suits the purpose well. The use of pink within the old design made the web page look tacky, however with using an image that we took of our location and fading it, it allows the design develop an eerie mood. This is what we have done so far, and at the moment we're working on changing the font. We are also thinking of having petals that are healthy, and petals that are rotted, this effect is used to represent that her old soul has died, and a new soul is growing within her. Therefore it'll be good if we had the rotted petals on the floor and fresh petals on top to show that she has moved on. Or perhaps we could use the idea of using hearts (cut out in paper) and use the same technique.

Audience Feedback

At this stage of the editing process we decided to ask another group in the class to give us feedback on what we had complete so far. The feedback tat the other group gave us mainly consisted on good and excellent comments. The group gave us the following comments:

- Overall creativity was good
- Holding a shot steady, where appropriate was excellent
- Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate was excellent
- Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate was good
- Shooting material appropriate for a music video was excellent
- Mise-en-scene appropriate for a music video was excellent
- Editing making the meaning apparent to the viewer was excellent
- Varied shot transitions, captions and other effects that are appropriate was excellent
- Matching sound and images and editing to the music was good
- Overall the music video so far was excellent.

We are pleased with feedback we received from the group and will try to improve our work to meet the excellent category in every aspect of our video.

Here are some of the screen grabs that we have taken today in our lesson, to show our development in the Editing process :)

Filming - Wednesday 3rd November 2010

We began filming the narrative for our music video on the 3rd November 2010 (2weeks ago). We decided that it would have been better to do our narrative with the two characters inside the hall at Goosedale, and then take our outside videoing perhaps later on in the day or another day. However with most of our videoing being based around the inside area most of our day was taken up by the filming of the interior. However, fortunately, yesterday Wednesday 18th November 2010, we were able to do the rest our filming at Wollaton park which was for the exterior scenes. We also took some pictures which we will be using for our CD cover and perhaps for the website. Here are some pictures of us filming, soon there will also be some footage of behind the scenes provided!

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Website Design - 1

This is what we put together in our first construction lesson. We made a rough design of what we hoped the website to look like, we are very happy with the result.

We made the banner in Photoshop, by using the paint brush tools available to add glows and manipulate our designs. We experimented with different colours, in order to see what would be appropriate and suit the theme.

Evanescence Official Website Analysis

This is the official Evanescence website! Just like the Digipak analysed in previous posts, the colour scheme is black and yellow, which seems to be Evanescenece's recurring colour theme. These colours represent an old emo/gothic 'look' that corresponds well with the bands ambiance and mood. The websites colour scheme and design is appropriate for the target audience as it follows the typical conventions of emo/gothic bands and artists. 

The font used in the website is once again very old fashioned (Victorian/Georgian) which is a common font to associate with gothic themed texts as gothic styles were introduced in society in the Georgian era. However, our artists not only targets emo and goth social groups but also targets indie groups, which would not appreciate the full gothic style on Christina Perri's website as tey do with Evanescenece's website. Therefore, we need to mix goth/emo/indie together to make the media text appropriate for the target age group.

Digipack Design Template

This is the rough template design of the digipack we hope to use in our official CD design section of our coursework. We have created this design based on existing CD cover and digipacks we have analysed in previous posts.

The front/back cover and the inside sleeve of the CD cover will display Christina Perri kneeling down in a forest in a dirtied up wedding dress clutching a jar of hearts. This resembles the songs title 'Jar of Hearts.' We thought it would be a good idea to include this image of the jar of hearts in this image as we don't make references to hearts in jars within our music video. This image would be very appropriate for the CD cover as Christina Perri will be singing in woodland areas in our music video.

The actual CD will have an image of Christina Perri and the 'Prince Charming' figure on it dancing in the ballroom. This again reflects one scene within the music video where the characters are dancing together in the chorus.

Kelly Clarkson My December Digipak Analysis

 These are two alternative CD front covers for Kelly Clarkson's single 'My December.' I know this isn't the full digipak for the CD single, however, i believe that the images on these front covers are very important to analyse to give us ideas for our CD cover designs.

In the first CD cover image, Kelly Clarkson is kneeling down in a red dress looking rather sad and depressed. The red could perhaps symbolise love or passion, as Kelly Clarkson usually sings songs in the love/indie genre. The costume she is wearing resembles a wedding dress, but could be a ball gown of some description. Their is a staircase behind her, which again follows the theme of a ball room staircase or wedding venue. Seeing the costume, body language and location that this photo is revealing represents the idea that Kelly Clarkson has been jilted at the alter or has been stood up on a date of some description. This would explain her pose and costume. Using the idea of Kelly Clarkson being upset, kneeling down in her wedding dress after something sad has happened would be a good idea to use in our CD cover/Digipak as our music video is set in a ball room and the main character and singer 'Christina Perri' is also in a ball gown/wedding dress. If we were to recreate this image/mood in our own digipack we would be following the same conventions that Kelly Clarkson has followed in her media text, which would place our 'look' into an emo, gothic, indie genre that would be appropriate for the target audience.

Evanescence Greatest Hits Digipack Analysis

 This is Evanescene's digipack for their "Greatest Hits' album. The from cover displays Amy Lee looking towards the camera upset. Her face is rather pale with dark eyeshadow/eyeliner surrounding her eyes. This represents the genre the artist is aiming to fit into (emo, goth, indie).

The colour scheme used throughout the digi pack is a black dull colour around the edges of the documents and filled with a yellowish erroded parchment themed box in the middle. These colours and the style of them represent a dark, old, faded mood that is reflected within the look of the band, the songs they perform and the genre they are placed in.

The text used in this Digipack is very gothic and almost old fashioned, like a georgian or victorian style. This font is commonly used within gothic or emo themes throughout the media as it makes the documents seem older and more period, which is when gothic themes came into society.

Christina Perri (Laura) Test Shots/Character Design

This is Laura, the cast member we have selected to play Christina Perri in our music video. This document provides the information needed to apply Laura's costume and make up. We have decided that we should try and make Laura look like Christina Perri as much as possible by copying her hair style and make up. Laura's hair will be straight and layered like Christina Perri's hair style in her photographs. Laura's hair is red, which is different to Christina Perri's Black and Blonde hair, however we cannot change Laura's hair colour just to shoot some scenes for our music video. The red colour of Laura's hair could add a certain mood to the video however, as the colour red resembles love, passion and romance...

Laura's make up will have to be quite basic, with a pale white face and dark eyeshadow/eyeliner which is evident within Christina Perri's photos and Amy Lee (Evanescenece) music videos. This style of make up will follow the typical conventions of love, indie, emo music videos.

Laura will be wearing a white wedding dress/ball gown within the music video as her costume states in previous blog posts. This costume is also in-keeping with the typical conventions of music videos within this genre as Amy Lee, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Perri all wear 'pouffy' white dressed in their music videos.

Recee Sheet- In the woods

This is another recee sheet which is for the woods, and provides similar detailed information like the other. There are also images of the woods which allows the location to be understood.

   

Production Schedule

This is our production schedule, it includes all of the information of what we were doing for our planning folder, and when we met to complete work that needed to be done. It also involves information of our filming dates.

Recee Sheet- In the hall

This is our recee sheet of the hall (location 1), it includes all the required information: Drawing of the hall with the address, pictures of it and information about health and safety.

Test shot - The male character

This is a test shot of the Ryan, who will play the male role in our music video, it shows what we want our character to look like. It contains information regarding make up outfits etc. We want Ryan to develop a modern look, by dressing him in a suit and tie and shirt. We thought it would be best to keep one of the characters up to date and not follow the entire conventions of the Cinderella story.

Location - Goosedale.

We have finally found our location, of Goosedale, it is a hall based in Papplewick, this location is more ideal than our original idea of Wollaton Hall, as it is modern, and classy, which ties in within our theme.

Digipak Cover Research: Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys is an example of the R&B genre. This cd cover shows the typicality of this genre as she is dressed in expensive clothing, jewellery and the piture on the cd cover is of her looking very attraactive. Which is what most R&B artists try to show on their cd covers. The font of the song list is more serious to Mika's. It suggests that the songs are about more emotive themes, such as love/despair, which a lot of them are. The overall effext of this cd cover shows that Alicia Keys is a serious artist with a talented voice who takes her music career seriously and sings about powerful themes so people (target audience) in similar situations  can relate to, instead of someone like Mika who chooses to take himself not as seriously, singing for fun and more about the fun things in life, not the problems people often come across.

Digipak cover Research: Mika

In my eyes, Mika is the opitomy of the pop genre which is why this cd cover is the perfect example of the conventions of pop: There are bright colours, a picture of the artist, and his name in big, outstanding letters. This attracts attention from the target audience and shows that Mika is a bright, loud, singular artist, which is shown in his music and therefore on the digipak. The song list is written in a child-like font which relates to the age ranges of Mika's target audience, also this font shows the songs' simplicities and fun style, showing Mika's carefree attidude, which may reflect on his audience making them feel good when listening to his songs.

Website analysis: Oasis

As Oasis have now split up, on their website homepage they have up to date pictures and clips from YouTube and Vevo advertising their new cd: time flies-1994-2009 which shows their image: Indie. They, like Beyonce have a clothing line and show this on the front page of their website. However, it seems to be mainly t-shits which represents the typical indie style: Jeans and band t-shirts. Also, when you click on this you can buy the t-shirts straight away, off their official website which makes it easier for fans to access, making it more likely that the clothes will sell. There is also a gallery of the pictures of Oasis from their live performances and photo shoots over the years which also shows fans their style and personal image. Unlike Beyonce's website, there isn't a song playing straight away when the homepage opens, however there is a link showing lots of their videos which you can watch/listen to while searching through the site. There is also a chance to be a member of the Oasis site as there is a login box on the left hand side. I believe this is a strength as it gives the fans the chance to be more in tune with the artist, especially now they've split up. This website attracts Oasis' target audience by being showing their music, live gig opportunities; which is what they specialise in, and awards won. The only adverstisements are for Oasis' t-shirts which you can buy through their website. Most of their fans are only interested in the artist themselves, not the clothes they wear: An indie's reputation specifies on the music that is written and performed, therefore attending music festivals, live gigs etc.

Website analysis: Beyonce

When you first click on Beyonce's website, her songs begin to play in some sort of shuffle which introduces herself and her music straight away without anyone having to go on any of the other pages to search for this, also if you stay on the homepage for long enough then you begin to hear the different types of songs she sings: R&B, pop and love songs. The homepage  has numerous pictures of Beyonce which you can click on to see more if you're interested. There pictures show her up to date style and classic presence, also the colours (a lot of black and white) and style of the layout of the home page show this. Further down the page, there is a poll asking which song people preffererd at a live concert she performed at in Las Vegas. She also has pictures of her clothing line on the homepage which you can click on to see more; this advertises her as a designer and showcases her clothes to anyone who goes onto her website: This first page also includes Beyonce's latest fragrance: Heat. It is shown to get more publicity and to make people aware of the fact that Beyonce has yet another perfume, which could lead on to them buying it after being curoius to what it smells like. Throughout this first page, she advertises everything she is included in, and shows that her talents don't just stop at singing.The techniques that are used to target Beyonce's audience are that the page shows her modern style. Also the advertisements that are on here would appeal as they are stereotypically young items (perfume and fashion).

Website Anlysis & Research - Travie Mccoy

The layout of Travie Mccoy’s website follows the same conventions of The Scripts website, however it appears that the colours that have been used for this web are bright and eye catching. The web doesn’t have much writing like the other website as the images do the “talking”. However the products that have been designed according to Travie Mccoy are promoted and advertised in a large selection. The font of the writing i.e. the trademark of the artist and the subheadings are similar to the trademark title. The main image of the artist is presented differently to how it is presented on The Scripts website, as with The Script the images are presented within a slide show, however on the Travie Mccoy’s website there is one image. The image also conveys the passion he has for music although it also portrays how music makes him happy. The web promotes websites in the same way and offers opportunities of listening and also buying music. However the websites are promoted at the bottom of the website. Although the information is provided similarly the layouts differentiate.

Website Anlysis & Research - The Script

Looking at the website of The Script, as you click onto the site on the search engine Google, you find that you are presented to a strap line of the band’s name, and there are also a selection of images of the band that have been used for the album. There are a selection of images, some which convey live performances, and also some which have been taken during a photo shoot. The images of the live performances, allow the audience to understand the passion the band has for the music they produce and conveys the hard work and motivation. With the pictures that present them all together when they are performing they portray the support they have for one another as a band. With their being a selection of music that you are able to listen to when opening the site, it supports the “vibe” of them being an Indie Rock band, and also the beige, stony, colours convey the representation of the band, and the trademark of the band also enables this. Media technology is used several ways to show how new technology can be used, for example the image of the album is supported by hyperlinks of the sites where it can be purchased from, example such as iTunes, Amazon, HMV are given. There are also videos of them performing live and videos of them generally allowing the audience to understand their personalities in depth. Social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are also promoted so that people in society are able to keep up with the band and what they’re doing. The writing supports the image of the band as there is a being stony colour, however there is little writing as the images do all the “talking”. The fonts of the titles are normal however the subheadings are written in capital letters to convey the importance and are in a beige colour. The band is made the centre of attention as all the information is based and supported by images and videos. The target audience for this band is considered as there isn’t much writing; people are more interested within the images opposed to the writing, having too much writing with images can be off putting and not engaging. There are also advertisements of live dates of performance of the band and promotion of shops where their products can be purchased from.

Album Cover Analysis & Research - Travie Mccoy

 

With looking at the album cover of Travie Mccoy, who is also considered to produce indie rock music, his album differs from The Script’s album, as the cover is based upon music instruments, such as the base and is also shaped into a parachute. There is an image of a “cartoon man” within the foreground who is attached to the parachute and is landing with the music attached to him. When looking at this different messages can be conveyed, in my opinion when I first took a look at this cover it appears that the little “cartoon man” is bringing down the music with him, and it is showing that music is given by god? The parachute is attached to a CD player, showing that music means everything to the person and should mean everything to the world. The background image of the sky is presented dark and black and white, portraying an uncomfortable atmosphere however the colours from the instruments and also the artists name allow the CD cover to appear more eye catching and unique. With using this style it allows the CD cover to appear more stylistic and different. The dress style of the little “cartoon man” is very RnB style, as he is wearing pink sneakers and a pink cap, with jeans and a jacket. This could have been done to represent that it maybe Travie Mccoy himself.