Evaluation Question 4: Have you used new media technologies?

Research and Planning

To keep track of our research, planning and other work we used Blogger. This made all our work accessable at home allowing us to log extra research conducted outside of lessons and kept all our work organised. We were also able to plan lesson schedules and what outside work we needed to be done, it acted as a diary which kept us on time with deadlines.

We experimented with different ways to present our research on our blog and decided that the website Wordle would be able to show our text in an innovative ways.

Filming

During the creation of our music video we used an HD camera. This enhanced the quality of the filming and achieved a clearer image overall. The cameras use an SD card which allows clips to be transferred individually into Final Cut Pro, rather than have to log and capture the wholesequence. This sped up the editing process because we filmed a lot of short, fast clips which would have been difficult to log and capture.

Editing

During the editing we used Final Cut Pro. This allowed us to cut all cut the footage how we wanted it and to create a sequence. We also edited the music in Final Cut Pro. We cut out parts of the music and added in other sections to make the editing sound seamless. We also cut the end few choruses and used Final Cut Pro to fade out the soundtrack (shown in the image below).

We used the crop tool on Final Cut Pro to edit the shots of people holding the placards. We filmed the footage around college and outside distractions could be seen, like posters etc. We cropped them down so that only the person and the placard was seen to keep the attention focused on them and to make the overall video look more professional.

We added a black and white effect to the video but came to the conclusion that it took away the liveliness of the video and the colour kept up the personality of the band and target audience. We were planning on adding colour accents to the video, however, due to time constraints and lack of knowledge in creating the effect we decided the footage, even though it was left without any effects, looked more effective and less tacky.

Digi-Pack

For the digi-pack we used Photoshop to edit the photos we took on the day of filming to use them in the digi-pack as central images on the front cover and back cover etc. We also took advantage of photoshops many different effects and editing tools; for example of the front cover with Elliot's tattoos we used various colour tools to create the desired effect. The writing on the tattoo was originally plain black but we used the colour filter to filter out the harsh dark colours and add in shades red to create the vibrant red writing we're left with now. We changed the contrast to make the hands a bright white colour, which worked well with the bright red colour of the tattoo and complimented each other really well.

We downloaded a font called SketchBlock from a font website called Dafont then we imported this font into Font Book. Dafont gave us the opportunity to find a font that linked in with the tattoo and the style of the band.

Evaluation Question 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We showed our final copy of our Love or Lust music video to other media students, teachers and families to get a wide range of opinions on the final product. We also made sure we asked people who follow bands with a similar style to Kids From The Summer. This is some of the positive and negative feedback we received:

1. Good band shots
2. Effective setting that suited the style of the music
3. I liked the cards with the words
4. Quick editing effective for pace of the music
5. Simplicity was effective
6. Quick cuts in time with the music worked well
7. Repeating shots too long
8. Using the same person with the cards was noticeable
9. Placards looked as though we were filling in space

Our audience feedback has taught us a lot about what works well and what is not so effective when creating a music video, especially in the style of punk rock. Here is what we would consider editing, cutting or changing if we were to re-create our music video:

1. Follow the storyboard more and if the storyboard has to change we should re-draft it because it will give us a sense of direction and structure and we will know exactly what shots we need
2. Film more footage so we have more options and a variety of shots
3. Practice with the effects beforehand
4. Make sure we do not use the same shots or shots too similar more than once

Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancilary text?

Our main product was a music video for a punk rock band called Kids From The Summer. To compliment this we created a digi-pack which includes: a four panel album cover and a poster advertising the release of the album.

To ensure that the digi-pack, four pannelled album artwork and advertisement poster, and main product, music video, worked well together we tried to keep a running theme throughout both. We had difficulties achieving what we wanted with the music video because the filming of the narrative did not work out as we planned, this then changed the rest of the storyboard resulting in a change to the design of the digi-pack.

The text of the digi-pack and poster had to link however the front cover font is a tattoo and hard to replicate. The back cover has a similar swirly font to the tattoo to make the product look more proffessional with the continuity. However, on the inside we used the sketchblock font, downloaded from Dafont, that represented the bands style of punk rock more effectively. To link the two products we used the same sketchblock font with bright neon colours for the poster. The neon colours worked well with trying to represent the band through the product. The colours will also attract the bands fan base as they are mainly following the punk rock style which includes a lot of neon colours. We then used the image from the front cover of the album as the image for the poster. This is to make sure that those interested in buying the album would easily recognise it from the advertisement poster if it was sold in store.

Here is the font style we used on the poster although we used lots more different colours.

The image on the front cover of the album artwork is a photo of the lead singers tattoos. The tattoos can be seen during the video and can be assocciated as a traidmark to the lead singer. By using this image we linked the video to the album cover. Also because this is a promotional pack that is advertising a new band the branding of the tattoo can make the audience and fans relate to the lead singer and follow his style.

This is a screen shot of the video showing the lead singers tattoo.



Once we had changed the narrative from a running story to quick shots of placards that showed the lyrics and song title, the digi-pack deviated away from the video. To keep the link between the two products we should have incorporated the placards within the digi-pack on at least one of the four pannels to create a sense of continuity between the two products.


Both the video and the digi-pack are representative of the band and their style of music. This means that both the products will be well suited for the audience, as the fan base will also be mainly of the punk rock style. The bright colours of the digi-pack, funny pictures of the band members and quick cutting video all link into the style.

Evaluation Question 1: How does your media product use, develop and challenge the conventions of real media products?

Goodwin's theory for the creation of music videos has 8 main principles:

1. Link between the lyrics and visuals
2. Link between the music and visuals
3. Genre characteristics
4. Intertextual references
5. Notions of looking (objectification of women)
6. Voyeurism (direct gaze, other people looking at the artists, insight into the artists life, screens and mirrors)
7. Demands of the record label (representation of the artist)
8. Narrative based, concept base or performance based music videos

In the making of our video we linked the lyrics and the visuals of the video by displaying the lyrics to the songs on a variety of coloured placards held up by different people, these would be quickly cut and flow in time to the lyrics that were being said at the points in the time when we had the placards up.

We fit in the music of the song (which had a pop/punk vibe to it) by displaying a selection of shots that that had the band jumping around on stage, we made the shots quicker and this mirrored the pace of the music and the bands image, we also had a variety of close ups on the different instruments the band had (such as the guitar and drums) this gave the audience a visual comparison to the music playing and the instrument playing certain the bit in focus whilst the close up was displayed.

Our music video has very close comparisons to the All American Rejects song "Dirty Little Secret" we liked the use of different people holding up their secret on a different type of placard in this video and so adapted this and worked it into our video by having different people hold up the lyrics to the song on coloured placards.



Throughout the course of the video the band are wearing punk style fashion clothing this is reflective of the bands image and the song playing and makes the band easier for the target audience to listen to and fits in with the typical conventions of a pop/punk, their style of performance is also reflective of this with lots of jumping around on stage and lively movements throughout the video.

Compare it to other videos

Link to other videos of same style- punk rock

Digi-pack

This is the 4 panels of our Digi-Pack including

• Front Cover


• 2 Inlays


• Back Cover with A list of songs.


• 

Final Cut- Love or Lust Music Video

Font Ideas

We used Dafont to download new fonts that suit the style of the band. We then chose which one looked most effective.

We chose Sketchblock:

This font looks good and we thought it would appeal to the target audience's age group. It is also very clear and easy to read so the song names will stand out well.

After adding this font to the back pane of the digi-pack we then realised that the font did not go well with the front page tattoo font. We are still using Sketchblock on an inside panel.

We are now using Selfish from dafont on the front:

Evaluation Ideas

Question 1: How does your media product use, develop and challenge the conventions of real media products?

• Voice over our music video at points of different conventions.
  

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancilary text?

• Blog post

Question 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

• Video or audio interviews with other media students, students interested in the punk rock genre of music and others to get a wide view of different opinions.

Question 4: Have you used new media technologies?

• Blog post

Changing the Narrative

We felt that the shots we filmed were not effective when cut to fit the storyboard because each shot was shown too long. Music videos, especially of the punk rock genre, have to have quick cut shots to math the pace of the music. By sticking to the storyboard the attention of the audience would be lost.

Because the editing differs from the storyboard it meant that the narrative sequence we had in mind was too long winded for the rest of the video, we needed a quick pace idea.

We did some extra research into narratives in punk rock music videos and found "Dirty Little Secrets" By The All-American Rejects. We liked the idea of using placards to show the story. This also means that we can use quick cuts of different words to keep the pace.

Plan of action (20/01/2011)

Our plan of action over the next two weeks:

1. 20/01/2011- complete the editing of the band shots
2. 25/01/2011- film the narrative shots and start editing them
3. 27/01/2011- finish the editing and digi-pack
4. 31/01/2011- carry on with editing and digi-pack and start evaluation
5. 02/02/2011- completely finish editing and digi-pack
6. 03/02/2011- complete evaluation
7. 04/02/2011- tie up loose ends and deadline

Filming Settings

Two weeks ago we filmed footage for our music video for "Love or Lust" by Kids From The Summer. We chose Worle Community school as our setting because it has a large stage which could fit all the band members and their instruments. We took two cameras with us and set them up in different positions to establish a variety of angles. We filmed extra footage then we actually planned to so we had more to play with in the editing stage.

Production Schedule

• We have secured the band for Thursday morning. We are hoping to film all of the band performance shots on the stage of Worle Community School on that day.

• We will be using two cameras so we can achieve all the angles we are planning to use.

• On that day we are also going to take some still photos of the band to use for the digi-pack.

• We will need the band to bring their instruments for the live performance and we do not need any other props.

• The filming of the different scenario shots will be done on a separate day.

Record Label

We designed a record label that went with the genre of the bands style, as though they could actually be signed by the company.

We went onto Da Font and found a punk style font that we liked the look of. We then downloaded it and created a simplistic logo for the record company. We came up with the idea of Graffiti Records because the font does not only suit the punk genre of the music but has a graffiti style to it.

Here is our record label that will appear on the back of the CD and on the magazine advert:

After researching into existing logos we made sure that our logo was as simple as possible but so the record companies name was clearly displayed. Since the logo will be small on the back of the CD case or magazine advert the bold font means the name is still visible.

Research into Record Company Logos

We need to create a Record Company that would invest in the band and budget the music video. For this we have to design a logo to represent the company.

These are some existing Record Company logo:

Most Record Company logos are simple and minimalistic. We wanted ours to mirror this so it looked professional. Despite the simplicity they are very effective and the company names are clearly displayed in bold font. This makes them stand out easily which promotes the company efficiently.

Location Ideas

In the second scenario we are showing the singer (lead male) in a room with the girl changing person to show his relationships are constantly changing. After watching Paramore's video of "The Only Exception" we had the idea to film the scene in a restaurant with the female swapping in the chair opposite the male.

At 1:53 Hayley Williams, the lead singer from Paramore, is in a restaurant at a table for two with males queuing at the seat opposite her. We thought this looked effective but would not have the girls queuing but have quick cuts where in each shot the girl would have changed.

Filming Settings

For the first narrative we are filming a bench shot with two people on it. We took a few photos of various benches to decide upon which would be most suited for the shot we want to achieve.

We have chosen to use the red metal bench as the colour will give the music video a punk effect. Also we would have the option to film the background in black and white but keep the red bench as a colour accent, keeping up our original idea.

For the last scenario we are filming either on a beach or across a bridge for the setting where the argument takes place. We took some photos from different angles over a bridge which looked quite effective.

We are still going to look into whether a beach shot will look more effective or whether other bridges from around weston will be more appropriate.

Our next steps 3

We have completed the test filming, storyboard and animatic which means we are now ready to focus on the filming and the promotional pack for our music video. We now need to:

• Take photos of our filming settings
• Upload them to blogger
• Plan production schedule
• Test some effects out (black and white and colour accents)
• Start designing the album cover for the digi-pack and advertisement poster
• Film all the footage with extra shots
• Start editing

Animatic

This is the animatic created from the shots of our storyboard. Creating the animatic gave us an idea of how quick the shots have to be to keep up the pace of the music genre and also the shots have to be cut to the beat of the music to look effective. We edited the order of the shots and used some shots a number of times to increase the flow of the video.

Storyboard

Our next steps 2

Future plans:

• Finish storyboard and upload to blog
• Start animatic
• Test shots of syncing music and shots
• Upload camera angle test shots