At the
beginning of the year I was given the choice of seven briefs to
choose from to use for my advanced portfolio in Media Studies. I
chose to create a music
promostion video alongside two out of three ancillary texts which
consisted of a website homepage for the artist/band, a cover for its
release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package) or a magazine
advertisement for the digipak. The two ancillary texts I originally
chose were to create a magazine advertisement and to create a digipak but later
I decided to change this and i created a website homepage with links for the artist/band and the
digipak. I chose to create the website as I felt it would test my skills
and it would give me a chance to broaden my ideas as I had completed a music magazine in my AS study year. Compared to
my AS brief, this brief was very different as I had the choice of
creating a media text relating to the music industry. However,
instead of producing three media products I was only required to
produced one. I created a music magazine consisting of a front page,
contents page and double page spread all produced by using my own footage and editing it all on Adobe Photoshop. For both of my media portfolios
I had to be familiar with and know the codes and conventions of my selective music genre
and carry out research on the music industry. I posted my research,
planning, product and evaluation on my blog, using different media technologies such as the internet and mobile phone footage, as I worked through my AS
project. In both portfolios I have used Adobe Photoshop to edit my
images and headlines and I found Adobe Photoshop very useful throughout my
Media Studies course as it is easy to use and has helped me create my
best work. For my advanced portfolio I used Adobe Premier Pro CS3 on an
editing suite and found that it was easy to use once I had understood
how to use it and this helped me succeed in creating my music video.
Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford and Sons is the song i chose with this style of music falling into the folk rock/indie rock genre. I chose this as I can
easily recognise the codes and conventions of the genre and include
them in my music video because this is a genre I enjoy listening to.The cast members featured in my video are all friends of mine that were willing to help me out. I started my planning and research by
analysing
music videos of this genre over a selection of years. After
analysing
three music videos I felt comfortable and understood the codes
and convention of the genre to begin my project and posted these onto my blog. Folk rock is my
chosen genre and folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of
folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the
term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK
around the mid-1960s The genre was pioneered by the Los Angeles band
The
Byrds,
who began playing traditional folk music and Bob
Dylan-penned
material with rock instrumentation, in a style heavily influenced by
The
Beatles and
other British bands.
The
conventions often consist of master shots, medium shots and close up
shots. All creating emphasis on the artist or band members, their
emotion and the location which is seen to tell the story. This is an important convention to this genre and in my video
I have used many medium and close up shots of my artists and their
instruments which is a clear emphasis on the band and what they do so
their target audience will be hooked and this is a typical
convention. Also medium shots of my lead singer at his piano show how he
emotionally connects to the song and what he is singing. This sterotypically attracts a female audience instantly.
The
use of close up and master shots on my actress in my narrative scenes
shows emotion and helps tell the story, for example, when the lyrics
state words like ' find', 'alone', 'bridges' and long walk home', I
have linked my actress to seem 'alone' and lost and walk over 'bridges' so the story is portrayed easily. I have
movements of pan shots which follow the band members as they play thier instruments and this also shows an
audience the whole band and how they are dressed, bring the conventions into light. Continuity throughout any music video is also
key therefore always having my performance scenes appear when the
chorus takes place creates this. Having quick transitions but having
continuity lyrically helps change the atmosphere of the music. For
example having a live performance in the video. I wanted to carry on this continuity by having a bass spin performed by John at the start of every chorus.This could also
relate to how the band itself has grown, from a recording studio to a
live gig. I feel that filming my band in a recording studio shows an
audience that they are a band of a recording standard.
The
costume any artist wears reflects the genre of music and if the music video
includes band members or a particular artist this may influence fans
on how to dress etc. So in my video I have placed my band members in
checked shirts and is reflects the genre of smart/casual. (See conventions post). I have kept
my narrative actress portraying a natural waved look with a slightly
windswept feel, to portray a sense of innocence, along with the use
of warm colours and clothing. This instanly sets a mood and portrays certain charactristics to an audience.
All
throughout my video my actress is wearing th same costume. This is so an audience can connect with this throughout
the video as my actress is rushed between the changes in weather
which indicate a time period. The costumes worn in this video
represent the people themselves as an artist. (See
codes and conventions). Folk rock music videos tended to be in
black and white but more commonly are now in colour, therefore mine
is all in colour but the way the narrative is filmed, the difference
is weather conditions create a sense of mood.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Without
reference to my audience feedback I feel that my two ancillary texts
(website and digipak), are effective as individual texts or as a
collective. For my digipak my ideas came from research and images
such as these:
I
took my inspiration from these and also magazine advertisements I had
seen. For my digipak I used Adobe Photoshop. I took many images that
I had took of my artists and actress either whilst performing or real
life shots and picked those that I felt were the strongest. I did not
want to used an image of my band on the front cover even though this
is a stereotypical convention. I used an image that I took using the
name of the album to enhance a more female audience. Throughout my
digipak my idea was to have natural light colours on it to represent
the feel good folk rock song and genre. Having the album named
'Queens with Flowers!' is unusual but conventional as many folk rock
albums are, for example, Mumford and Sons albums, 'Sign No More' and
Babel'. My image of a hand with a flower delicately flowing in front
portrays a calm and relaxed album but also perhaps mystery and grabs
attention of my target audience. The effect I used on my front cover
image was a slight tint of brightness which I felt uplifted the
image. The font I chose for my album cover, I felt, is simple and
neat and does not overcrowd the image of beauty behind.
For
the back cover I used a tree image that I took whilst out filming one
gloomy afternoon. I felt this was a smart image as it was simple but
yet effect and represents to the audience a possible different to a
bright over and a slightly darker back. I used a colour brightness of
a slight red to enhance the image slightly and I felt this was
effect. The font above the trees that lists the song titles is simple
and black.On my inside covers where discs would be placed I felt having my actress on there would link well with the album as my over all album, the songs and the future videos, would have seen this actress move throughout as she would tell a story. The joy on the actress' face shows an uplifting album with the beautiful tress and red berries hanging behind her taken on a sunny day. Placing my lead singer on the inside covers to connect with the audience. My performer is placed as his piano which clearly indicates he is writing the songs for the album and is always. Having these images in my digipak carry on the natural elements of songwriters and links with music videos.
By looking on these websites I got inspiration and ideas from the continues fonts, colours and background features used. (See websitepost for full details on why and how I chose what I did).
What
have you learned from your audience feedback?
To
receive audience feedback after the completion of my music video and
ancillary texts I typed out a list of yes or no answer styled
questions with a space below to comment on their chosen answer. These
feedback sheets where handed to people who matched my audience profile.
The questions I asked where; does my narrative work well with this
chosen song?, does my performance work well with the song chosen?,
does my music video represent the codes and conventions of the music
genre chosen?, do my ancillary texts link well with the music video?,
could I improve my music video?, and could I improve my ancillary
texts?. Having this feedback helped me understand and see where
possible changes could have been made in my work along side what I
had produced well. My audience feedback sheets are placed below this
text.
The
feedback to my first question, does my narrative work well with the
song?, was that five out of the six people asked answered yes. This
showed me that my narrative worked well and was understood by more
than half that watched it. Comments including, 'illustrates the
meaning of the lyrics' and 'the setting fits really well with the
style of the song', was a positive for me as I worked very hard
whilst filming my actress and chose where I shot my footage
carefully. The one feedback sheet that stated, 'not sure what
narrative is', made me question that possibly my narrative could of
played a larger part in the video to explain the lyrics of the songs
better.The feedback to my second question, does my performance work well with the song chosen?, was that all six of my feedback sheets stated that is does work well. The comments stated that the performance with the instruments used were all in sync and this is something I focused hard on so I had all my musicians learn the majority of their parts.
The feedback to my question three, does my music video represent the codes and conventions of the music genre chosen?, was yes it does as one of my audience members noticed the presentation of my cast members.
The feedback to question four, do my ancillary texts link well with the music video?, was yet again a yes and this was a relief to me as I was unsure after comparing my final product to my researched ideas. My target audience that fed this answer back to me all liked and acknowledged that the images on my ancillary texts were appropriate as they linked and were taken from the music video and this is a great way to promote a music video.
The feedback to my fifth question, could I improve my music video?, was split. Changes that could possibly have taken place were aimed more towards the performance side of my music video, altering the amount of bass spins. I chose to place my bass spins at the beginning of all choruses as this is a key link to an audience but have learnt that possibly they were many.
The feedback to my final question, could I improve my ancillary texts?, was spilt again. The feedback I received was aimed towards my digipak and that I could have possibly used a wider range of different images. I can see from the point of view of my audience that it may seem a little crowded.
I included a few lines for any additional comments and received a positive comment that my narrative was beautifully shot.
Overall I felt my feedback was all overly positive and that my music video and ancillary texts were consistent and conveyed continuity.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Throughout
my construction, research and planning stages of this project I used
various technologies such a Adobe Photoshop, the internet, mobile
phone footage, Windows Movie Maker and an editing suit. I used all
these technologies in my AS studies so was comfortable with using
these to construct research and create my best work.
At
the start of this project I did a preliminary task as part of a group
were we reconstructed a media text. Taking part in this developed my
filming and editing skills. We all took this very seriously as a
group and began our reconstruction process by creating a productions
plan and assigned roles to each of the group. See reconstruction post
for full details on how we completed this task.As I began this research I chose the song, Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford and Sons as after listening to this song I had initial ideas for both a narrative and a performance based video. I chose some influential media texts and received feedback on my mobile phone from a friend. Using a mobile phone to get this feedback is quick and simple and helped me throughout my work. As my planning continued I created a storyboard for my music video and then proceeded and used the media technology Windows Movie Maker to create an animatic. This gave me a better understanding and idea of how my music video would look and what I wanted to achieve over this project. After viewing my animatic I noticed that perhaps shots were too long and certain storyboard pictures would continuously work better placed somewhere else in the song. I carried on creating images on storyboard so I knew exactly what I wanted in each shot. All of my production/filming time was done outside of college hours so during my media lessons I carried on my research and posted all updates on my blog.
Each time I filmed I placed more and more of my footage on the editing suit and began editing what I could. This meant that I wasn't waiting for all my footage to be in and I could crack on with what was already there. This made me feel comfortable as I learnt more about the tools on the editing suit everyday. Throughout editing I often received guidance from teachers and friends which helped as I saw my video from another perspective.
Whilst editing my video I also constructed research using the internet to look in detail at current digipaks and bands current websites which are mentioned in the first question. After finishing my video I started to design my website which I thoughtfully enjoyed as it is something different and we did not look into it in the previous year. I learnt that creating a website with appropriate links takes a lot of hard work as everything placed on each page is important and has to be precise so I tried to match this convention and create continuity throughout.
