Showing posts with label Nat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nat. Show all posts
Friday, 23 January 2015
Evaluation Question 4 Final - Nat
EVALUATION 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages?
Research and Planning:
How did you use media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages?
Research and Planning:
- Tumblr
- UK Tribes
- YouTube
- Animoto
I used Tumblr and Google mainly for researching into images, styling of clothing and make up to inspire the production of my product, and how I would attempt the professional aesthetic through Mise en Scene. With the internet being accessible 24/7 with it having no limits of the art and designs I could find, it made the planning of my products convincingly easier than it would have 10 years ago, when technology such as this was limited.
I used UK Tribes as a website to research into my target audience. This allowed me to easily have access to a depth of information which introduced me more into what my consumer has interests for. This then allowed me to evaluate which elements were more important to incorporate. From this, my development of colour, design and narrative was produced.
I used YouTube in the production research and planning stage to gather together a portfolio of evidence to gain inspiration. This lead me to looking into: films which incorporated dance, music videos which had elements of dance, and choreography of different styles of dance, to aid the decision of which style of dance would be appropriate.
I used Animoto to present my 25 word pitch to my peers. This form of presentation is something I like to use for small 30 second presentations as it is a lot more interesting and professional. It captures the audiences attention, and it is quick and easy to create so it doesn't take too much time like a Prezi or PowerPoint would.
Construction:
- HD Panasonic Video Camera
- Nikon Camera
- Photoshop
- Final Cut Pro
- YouTube Converter
- iPhone
- Flickr
- iMac
During the construction stages of my products I used many technological devices to ensure that the final product looked professional. During filming of the music video, and photography for the digipak and advert I used two different cameras: HD Panasonic Video Camera and a Nikon. I was familiar with using both beforehand which eased the stress and pressure of production. These technologies are more advanced than they would have been previously, which meant that my products would have a very good pix-elated image.
I used Photoshop and Final Cut Pro on an iMac to create my three products. Due to having previous knowledge again with both softwares and the iMac itself it made production a lot easier than it would of with a lack of experience. Having access to these technologies at school made it possible for my work to be of a high standard providing my efforts were displayed. The developments of these softwares over the years has also increased, meaning there are different and more special effects which can be used to change and adapt my projects to ensure they look more aesthetically pleasing.
My iPhone came into play during filming, where I had the song downloaded on my phone to aid the lip syncing technique, as well as the dance being in time to the music. This small aspect of technology made a great difference with regards to my final product.
I used Flickr to upload my images that I photographed for the production stage of my digipak and advert. This online storage system in my opinion is a safer way of storing my images. This is because technology such as laptops and computers can sometimes go wrong and lose work, therefore I decided the internet was a better place to store it. This is an easier and effective method of storage and made the production stage better.
I used YouTube converter to convert the countdown clock from the opening of my video into a MOV file. As well as this, it allowed me to download the song onto iTunes to use in the program Final Cut. This quick method of download made the editing process significantly easier, than if software wasn't as up to date or speed.
Evaluation:
- YouTube
I used YouTube in my draft evaluation questions to present videos as examples of work I copied. I believed that rather than explaining each, it would be easier and more effective to embed each with in my blogger posts.
I also used two social networking sites to exhibit and distribute my work to friends and family. This then allowed me to gain positive and critical feedback, as well as ensuring my work is posted online for a wide audience to view.
I also used two social networking sites to exhibit and distribute my work to friends and family. This then allowed me to gain positive and critical feedback, as well as ensuring my work is posted online for a wide audience to view.
Friday, 19 December 2014
Evaluation Question 1 Draft - Nat
Evaluation 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our music video uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products by both adapting and copying different styles, to make our music video fit within our chosen genre.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our music video uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products by both adapting and copying different styles, to make our music video fit within our chosen genre.
Typical emotional pop videos contain a narrative of some sort, so by sticking with this convention we have recreated a video in a format, which is already in the market. However, by using contemporary dance within our narrative we have challenged a convention within our genre, as we haven't chosen dance music. An example of a pop video which incorporates a narrative similar to ours is Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift's Collaboration of Everything Has Changed. This narrative, along with the dance composition in Pink's Try video, is our video.
The concept behind the story of the Ed Sheeran video was what we copied, however we used teenage actors rather than children, and we incorporated dance for the 'love story' rather than a day at school. Therefore when researching into particular dance music videos we copied elements from Pinks Try video. Due to having a wider knowledge on dance used in films, I thought by researching into dance footage from trailers and film scenes was important to ensure our choreography worked.
From the films viewed both Step Up 1 and Step Up 4 mainly included establishing shots, close ups and long shots. The different style of dance expressed across both films made us aware that when filming dance, constant camera movement and change of angle was key. Therefore we have ensured our final video demonstrates these conventions in order for us to attain a professional aesthetic.
We also needed to ensure we had many different shot types of our artist singing. This was because, with a white infinity curve studio being our location, it meant it was very plain. This meant that by changing the camera angles significantly, from high to low, left to right and close up to long shot it made the video a lot more interesting. The remaining Mise en Scene (lighting and costume) was what we focused our efforts on especially, as this was what would create the atmosphere for our video. Our inspiration from the shadows came from an America's Got Talent contestant called Blue Journey and the new Union J video, as this proves that shadows can be used with in the pop genre and meet a convention.
The inspiration for our camera angles, movements of the camera, and styling of costume came from the indie-pop genre (same as Katie Jones). The video Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran which came out the week of our planning for the video gave us great inspiration for how dance can be presented through a slow, emotional song. With limited knowledge on how to style dancers, we found it greatly helpful to be able to copy the clothing ideas from this video, as it meant we didn't have to go into too much depth with regards to planning it.
My digipak and advert both follow conventions of a basic pop / indie-pop genre. The one thing I decided to challenge with regards to the digipak and advert was the photograph I produced. In both images, Katie Jones looks away from the camera. With evidence of Taylor Swift's album cover 1989 not presenting eye contact I believed it was acceptable to do this on my. It however could be argued that due to Taylor Swift being extremely successful and well-known this was acceptable for an artist of her caliber. Therefore I believe I challenged this convention of both products. The colour palette has elements of bright colours and black and white. However, artist albums such as Adele and Jessie Ware prove that not all pop album covers have to include colour like Rihanna and Beyonce.
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Evaluation Question 2 Draft - Nat
EVALUATION 2
How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?
Pop which is defined as the 'popular' style of music from both past and current, is the genre I researched into, and created products for. However I have both followed and challenged conventions with regards to my music video in relation to the construction, narrative and overall aesthetic of my product.
Firstly, my music video follows particular conventions in relation to narrative. Videos like Pink 'Try' and Gabrielle Aplin 'Panic Cord' gave myself inspiration regarding structure from shot to shot, and the ratio of narrative to performance of the artist. The common norm of a narrative which if used in pop videos tends, more than not, to be of the romance genre. Therefore, due to our song having a pragmatic meaning of a love narrative, as opposed to just a performance video, was the concept we decided to emerge with in our video.
I believe however, I have challenged pop conventions with regards to the contemporary dance aspect. Due to our artist being of more an indie-pop alternative style, in my opinion I felt challenging conventions at this stage would be acceptable, to create the best aesthetic for our video. With examples of indie-pop videos incorporating dance such as Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud we felt that the more ballroom, classic style of dance was something we wanted to steer away from. This was because it was entirely a performance video, including the artist himself, which was something we wished to change. Therefore, our main inspiration of Dance from a music video came from Pink's 'Try', in which the style of dance was more contemporary. We believe by following conventions of this video, we have challenged the convention of indie-pop videos which include dance. On the other hand, we believed this was a risk, but one which has paid off, as the style of dance suits the chosen song, and relates to the lyrics.
Furthermore, we both challenged and followed conventions with regards to the styling of our artists and dancers. The red lipstick worn by both females and the suit that Michael our male dancer wore followed typical pop conventions of smart but bright (in some cases - lipstick). The artists outfit however, after much research we decided to challenge the convention of the 'male gaze' theory by Laura Mulvey. This was because, for this particular video, the Beyonce and Rihanna style of 'no clothes' wasn't classy and sophisticated enough for the aesthetic we wanted to produce.
Also, like many pop ballad videos such as California King Bed by Rihanna and Adele's Hometown Glory video, they both feature colour, Rihanna's video in particular. I challenged the norm by putting our video in black and white, because I believe that the emotion we wished to created through the narrative would have been easier to produce in a video with limited aspects to focus on.
With regards to my ancillary texts, I followed many conventions of a pop digipak and advert. Evidence from my research and planning shows I took inspiration from Gabrielle Aplin's debut album English Rain, and Taylor Swifts newest album 1989. I followed the rule of thirds across both my pieces of work, as well as taking into account star image, font type, and colour. I believe I challenged the convention of colour for a 'normal' pop digipak. With a house style of orange and brown, it sits on its own in the industry against digipaks with more vibrant colours, such as Rihanna's Loud and Lana Del Ray's Born To Die. I decided to do this however, to fit with the theme of the album 'Autumn Leaves' just like Gabrielle Aplin incorporated a theme of the English countryside and umbrellas in her English Rain album.
The male gaze is an element of pop which many artists in the industry aspire for, to ensure they sell the most albums. However, I found evidence from Adele, Gabrielle Aplin, Jessie Ware and Birdy to suggest that I didn't need to follow the convention of the male gaze. I did however decide to style my model with voluminous hair, red lipstick and defined cheek bones to ensure she wasn't washed out on a white back drop. This method of styling was used across all three of my products, to make our artist Katie Jones look as professionally styled as possible.
The photography that took place during production of my ancillary texts were, apart from the outside scenery images, all focused entirely on our star image. We attempted to re-create many photographs, with inspiration from previous digipaks and adverts created for Birdy, Taylor Swift and Rihanna. With past experience using the Nikon HD Camera, we were able to produce high quality images, which would replicate those used in the industry today. The photographs gave my ancillary texts a higher professional aesthetic, which in turn make them both look as if they belong within the industry, and that a student hasn't made it.
We decided also to ensure that the our artist Katie Jones was styled the same in the photoshoots as the video to have a correlation between all three products. This would challenge a convention of the pop genre, as artists tend to wear different outfits in their videos to what is on their album covers and adverts.
To conclude, I believe that my video and two ancillary texts are effective because I have followed mainstream conventions to ensure that my products looks as professional and as in date with regards to the pop genre as possible. I have provided evidence to exhibit my reasons for challenging conventions, and shown examples of those products I have copied, to justify each element of my video, digipak and advert.
How Effective is the Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?
Pop which is defined as the 'popular' style of music from both past and current, is the genre I researched into, and created products for. However I have both followed and challenged conventions with regards to my music video in relation to the construction, narrative and overall aesthetic of my product.
Firstly, my music video follows particular conventions in relation to narrative. Videos like Pink 'Try' and Gabrielle Aplin 'Panic Cord' gave myself inspiration regarding structure from shot to shot, and the ratio of narrative to performance of the artist. The common norm of a narrative which if used in pop videos tends, more than not, to be of the romance genre. Therefore, due to our song having a pragmatic meaning of a love narrative, as opposed to just a performance video, was the concept we decided to emerge with in our video.
I believe however, I have challenged pop conventions with regards to the contemporary dance aspect. Due to our artist being of more an indie-pop alternative style, in my opinion I felt challenging conventions at this stage would be acceptable, to create the best aesthetic for our video. With examples of indie-pop videos incorporating dance such as Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud we felt that the more ballroom, classic style of dance was something we wanted to steer away from. This was because it was entirely a performance video, including the artist himself, which was something we wished to change. Therefore, our main inspiration of Dance from a music video came from Pink's 'Try', in which the style of dance was more contemporary. We believe by following conventions of this video, we have challenged the convention of indie-pop videos which include dance. On the other hand, we believed this was a risk, but one which has paid off, as the style of dance suits the chosen song, and relates to the lyrics.
Furthermore, we both challenged and followed conventions with regards to the styling of our artists and dancers. The red lipstick worn by both females and the suit that Michael our male dancer wore followed typical pop conventions of smart but bright (in some cases - lipstick). The artists outfit however, after much research we decided to challenge the convention of the 'male gaze' theory by Laura Mulvey. This was because, for this particular video, the Beyonce and Rihanna style of 'no clothes' wasn't classy and sophisticated enough for the aesthetic we wanted to produce.
Also, like many pop ballad videos such as California King Bed by Rihanna and Adele's Hometown Glory video, they both feature colour, Rihanna's video in particular. I challenged the norm by putting our video in black and white, because I believe that the emotion we wished to created through the narrative would have been easier to produce in a video with limited aspects to focus on.
With regards to my ancillary texts, I followed many conventions of a pop digipak and advert. Evidence from my research and planning shows I took inspiration from Gabrielle Aplin's debut album English Rain, and Taylor Swifts newest album 1989. I followed the rule of thirds across both my pieces of work, as well as taking into account star image, font type, and colour. I believe I challenged the convention of colour for a 'normal' pop digipak. With a house style of orange and brown, it sits on its own in the industry against digipaks with more vibrant colours, such as Rihanna's Loud and Lana Del Ray's Born To Die. I decided to do this however, to fit with the theme of the album 'Autumn Leaves' just like Gabrielle Aplin incorporated a theme of the English countryside and umbrellas in her English Rain album.
The male gaze is an element of pop which many artists in the industry aspire for, to ensure they sell the most albums. However, I found evidence from Adele, Gabrielle Aplin, Jessie Ware and Birdy to suggest that I didn't need to follow the convention of the male gaze. I did however decide to style my model with voluminous hair, red lipstick and defined cheek bones to ensure she wasn't washed out on a white back drop. This method of styling was used across all three of my products, to make our artist Katie Jones look as professionally styled as possible.
The photography that took place during production of my ancillary texts were, apart from the outside scenery images, all focused entirely on our star image. We attempted to re-create many photographs, with inspiration from previous digipaks and adverts created for Birdy, Taylor Swift and Rihanna. With past experience using the Nikon HD Camera, we were able to produce high quality images, which would replicate those used in the industry today. The photographs gave my ancillary texts a higher professional aesthetic, which in turn make them both look as if they belong within the industry, and that a student hasn't made it.
We decided also to ensure that the our artist Katie Jones was styled the same in the photoshoots as the video to have a correlation between all three products. This would challenge a convention of the pop genre, as artists tend to wear different outfits in their videos to what is on their album covers and adverts.
To conclude, I believe that my video and two ancillary texts are effective because I have followed mainstream conventions to ensure that my products looks as professional and as in date with regards to the pop genre as possible. I have provided evidence to exhibit my reasons for challenging conventions, and shown examples of those products I have copied, to justify each element of my video, digipak and advert.
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Evaluation Question 3 Draft - Nat
EVALUATION 3:
25 Word Pitch
"This needs a stronger sense of story. What is the story of your video?" - Mr Smith
"Nat and Sanj, you have the basic details of where you want to take the video and how it will come together. There isn't as much given for the story line, but overall a really good pitch:-) Looking forwards to seeing the end product." - Lauren Roberts
"This is a good pitch, we want to know more about the story of the video and the song you are producing a music video for, besides that you are staring to show a clear idea and we are looking forward to seeing your final product." -Jack Green
"Nat and Sanjay, I feel you have really clear idea of what you ant your music video to consist of. I think you need to give us more info behind the story of your video so we have more to look forward to! All in all a brilliant idea and I look forward to seeing what you produce, The best of luck to you!" - Millie Leader
"Nat and Sanj , I feel as though you have told us a lot about what the video will include , but actually drifted away from the song and genre you have chosen. I maybe would have considered using a song that fits your genre to be the background music. But your ideas is excellent and has the potential to be very successful, exited to see the finished product , good luck !!" - Jack Wildbore
"I feel this is a good pitch and you have given a lot of detail about the overall video idea. I am interested in how the narrative will be expressed and what type of models you will use to portray this." - Molly Simpson
"The pitch is very detailed and it is clear that you have put a lot of attention into the idea and that you have actively developed it to make it better. Good Luck, I hope it all works out!" - Harry Abbott
"Nat and Sanj, I can tell that your video has lots of potential and can see it being successful however I don't think your pitch tells us the full story line of the music video" - Ollie Dennis
From the feedback given from my peers, it became clear that the first 25 word pitch we created was too brief and didn't touch onto the narrative as much as the audience wished it to. This therefore meant it was too vague and needed re-doing. I felt that it was necessary to start from scratch because we lost the majority of the audience after the pitch because we weren't concise enough.
As well as re-creating the 25 word pitch, as a team we decided it would be appropriate to also create a blog post, to express in our words the narrative to our story line. This would then outline to the audience clearly the exact idea we have in our heads, and what we wish to in a sense recreate.
Conversely, a comment was made remarking on the fact that we hadn't researched into the genre of the song, and in fact that we were drifting away from the genre. I feel that with the research we conducted previously it was made clear that our genre of video was pop/indie-pop, and that our video would challenge conventions in many ways.
Final Music Video Feedback
"Your final music video looks brilliant. your editing skills are very good, the slow motion effect on some of the dancing really suits the tone of music, all parts of the video fit the song perfectly. Your transactions between shots complete the music video and help make it all flow nicely together. I can really see how you have developed and improved from your draft, with much better quality of shots, singing and dancing. well done, this product is brilliant" - Chloe Phillips
"Your final music video shows a various range of shots and effects (those being the slow motion elements and reversing the clips). I think that your editing skills are promising, the video flows alongside the music and the dancing from the actors works with the theme of your video. I think that you have improved to a great extent from your first draft." - Michelle Knight
Final Digipak Feedback
"The difference between draft and final Digipak is promising in regards to connecting more with your target audience. I like the change between colours - your Digipak looks more open and inviting. The placement of the images and text on the screen makes your Digipak look professional and simplistic. I think that maybe you should have chosen a photo of your 'lead girl' looking up rather down, I would like to see more of her facial features and make-up used to create her look. However, this doesn't shy away from the fact that overall you have clearly stuck to a house theme and have constructed detailed research into what conventions are needed in order to achieve the look you wanted." - Michelle Knight
Final Advert Feedback
"This is a significant improvement from your Draft. You can see the theme running throughout the Advert and Digipak and it is evident that this is consistent, which shows a sense of professionalism. I like how the colour of Katie's top compliments the colour of the background. I feel that the font you've used for the 'Autumn Leaves' creates a sense of calligraphy, furthermore the 'A' and 'S' are in a different colour which attracts more attention to the Advert.
I think that you have taken inspiration from other artists within your specified genre, which is evident through your Digipak."
The feedback for my advert was again very positive, with regards to the compilation and putting together of my product, as well as the aesthetic. My audience commented on how they felt I had researched into a lot of depth to ensure this product looked professional. I was also praised on how I have created a link with in both my advert and digipak, which would correspond well with artists work currently in the industry.
The theme of calligraphy was something I carried across both the digipak and advert. My reasoning for this was to create a sense of relationship between the artist and her fans, due to her being a new addition to the market. I noticed previously that this was the approach Gabrielle Aplin took with her debut album English Rain.
In conclusion it has came to my attention that the products I have made have been given positive feedback from my peers. They seem to believe I have conducted in depth research with regards to the planning and production of my product, and that it is appreciated by my consumer.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
25 Word Pitch
"This needs a stronger sense of story. What is the story of your video?" - Mr Smith
"Nat and Sanj, you have the basic details of where you want to take the video and how it will come together. There isn't as much given for the story line, but overall a really good pitch:-) Looking forwards to seeing the end product." - Lauren Roberts
"This is a good pitch, we want to know more about the story of the video and the song you are producing a music video for, besides that you are staring to show a clear idea and we are looking forward to seeing your final product." -Jack Green
"Nat and Sanjay, I feel you have really clear idea of what you ant your music video to consist of. I think you need to give us more info behind the story of your video so we have more to look forward to! All in all a brilliant idea and I look forward to seeing what you produce, The best of luck to you!" - Millie Leader
"Nat and Sanj , I feel as though you have told us a lot about what the video will include , but actually drifted away from the song and genre you have chosen. I maybe would have considered using a song that fits your genre to be the background music. But your ideas is excellent and has the potential to be very successful, exited to see the finished product , good luck !!" - Jack Wildbore
"I feel this is a good pitch and you have given a lot of detail about the overall video idea. I am interested in how the narrative will be expressed and what type of models you will use to portray this." - Molly Simpson
"The pitch is very detailed and it is clear that you have put a lot of attention into the idea and that you have actively developed it to make it better. Good Luck, I hope it all works out!" - Harry Abbott
"Nat and Sanj, I can tell that your video has lots of potential and can see it being successful however I don't think your pitch tells us the full story line of the music video" - Ollie Dennis
From the feedback given from my peers, it became clear that the first 25 word pitch we created was too brief and didn't touch onto the narrative as much as the audience wished it to. This therefore meant it was too vague and needed re-doing. I felt that it was necessary to start from scratch because we lost the majority of the audience after the pitch because we weren't concise enough.
As well as re-creating the 25 word pitch, as a team we decided it would be appropriate to also create a blog post, to express in our words the narrative to our story line. This would then outline to the audience clearly the exact idea we have in our heads, and what we wish to in a sense recreate.
Conversely, a comment was made remarking on the fact that we hadn't researched into the genre of the song, and in fact that we were drifting away from the genre. I feel that with the research we conducted previously it was made clear that our genre of video was pop/indie-pop, and that our video would challenge conventions in many ways.
Final Music Video Feedback
"Your final music video looks brilliant. your editing skills are very good, the slow motion effect on some of the dancing really suits the tone of music, all parts of the video fit the song perfectly. Your transactions between shots complete the music video and help make it all flow nicely together. I can really see how you have developed and improved from your draft, with much better quality of shots, singing and dancing. well done, this product is brilliant" - Chloe Phillips
"Your final music video shows a various range of shots and effects (those being the slow motion elements and reversing the clips). I think that your editing skills are promising, the video flows alongside the music and the dancing from the actors works with the theme of your video. I think that you have improved to a great extent from your first draft." - Michelle Knight
The feedback from my classmates with regards to the final video was very positive. This indicated that there was a significant improvement between our draft and our final video which both Sanj and I knew needed to happen to attain good marks.
It has been made aware that the extra time and care we spent on filming a range of angled shots, and editing the video together more precisely was what improved the overall aesthetic of our product convincingly. This mad us aware of how delicate and precise videos in this genre must be to look professional, which is why we acted upon our draft feedback from our teachers.
"The difference between draft and final Digipak is promising in regards to connecting more with your target audience. I like the change between colours - your Digipak looks more open and inviting. The placement of the images and text on the screen makes your Digipak look professional and simplistic. I think that maybe you should have chosen a photo of your 'lead girl' looking up rather down, I would like to see more of her facial features and make-up used to create her look. However, this doesn't shy away from the fact that overall you have clearly stuck to a house theme and have constructed detailed research into what conventions are needed in order to achieve the look you wanted." - Michelle Knight
It was made clear that my final digipak had more sense of understanding my genre. It was noticed by many that my draft version was very rushed, and planning was an issue. Therefore I conducted research and created a 'Digipak Journey' which provided evidence to my audience to prove that everything I have now done in my final design is backed up with evidence from previous products, as well as natural resources and crafts.
I was challenged in my feedback with regards to the way in which I framed the photograph. My target audience didn't seem to appreciate the fact Katie Jones looks down on the cover of my digipak. With close reference and inspiration I decided to copy Taylor Swift's 1989 cover, by ensuring my artist wasn't looking into the camera. This critique in my opinion is fair, because my artist isn't globally known like Taylor Swift, however I believed that by challenging the convention my product would look more professional.
Final Advert Feedback
"This is a significant improvement from your Draft. You can see the theme running throughout the Advert and Digipak and it is evident that this is consistent, which shows a sense of professionalism. I like how the colour of Katie's top compliments the colour of the background. I feel that the font you've used for the 'Autumn Leaves' creates a sense of calligraphy, furthermore the 'A' and 'S' are in a different colour which attracts more attention to the Advert.
I think that you have taken inspiration from other artists within your specified genre, which is evident through your Digipak."
The feedback for my advert was again very positive, with regards to the compilation and putting together of my product, as well as the aesthetic. My audience commented on how they felt I had researched into a lot of depth to ensure this product looked professional. I was also praised on how I have created a link with in both my advert and digipak, which would correspond well with artists work currently in the industry.
The theme of calligraphy was something I carried across both the digipak and advert. My reasoning for this was to create a sense of relationship between the artist and her fans, due to her being a new addition to the market. I noticed previously that this was the approach Gabrielle Aplin took with her debut album English Rain.
In conclusion it has came to my attention that the products I have made have been given positive feedback from my peers. They seem to believe I have conducted in depth research with regards to the planning and production of my product, and that it is appreciated by my consumer.
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Evaluation Question 4 Draft - Nat
EVALUATION 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages?
Research and Planning:
I used Tumblr and Google mainly for researching into images, styling of clothing and make up to inspire the production of my product, and how I would attempt the professional aesthetic through Mise en Scene. With the internet being accessible 24/7 with it having no limits of the art and designs I could find, it made the planning of my products convincingly easier than it would have 10 years ago, when technology such as this was limited.
I used UK Tribes as a website to research into my target audience. This allowed me to easily have access to a depth of information which introduced me more into what my consumer has interests for. This then allowed me to evaluate which elements were more important to incorporate. From this, my development of colour, design and narrative was produced.
I used YouTube in the production research and planning stage to gather together a portfolio of evidence to gain inspiration. This lead me to looking into: films which incorporated dance, music videos which had elements of dance, and choreography of different styles of dance, to aid the decision of which style of dance would be appropriate.
I used Animoto to present my 25 word pitch to my peers. This form of presentation is something I like to use for small 30 second presentations as it is a lot more interesting and professional. It captures the audiences attention, and it is quick and easy to create so it doesn't take too much time like a Prezi or PowerPoint would.
Construction:
Evaluation:
How did you use media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages?
Research and Planning:
- Tumblr
- UK Tribes
- YouTube
- Animoto
I used Tumblr and Google mainly for researching into images, styling of clothing and make up to inspire the production of my product, and how I would attempt the professional aesthetic through Mise en Scene. With the internet being accessible 24/7 with it having no limits of the art and designs I could find, it made the planning of my products convincingly easier than it would have 10 years ago, when technology such as this was limited.
I used UK Tribes as a website to research into my target audience. This allowed me to easily have access to a depth of information which introduced me more into what my consumer has interests for. This then allowed me to evaluate which elements were more important to incorporate. From this, my development of colour, design and narrative was produced.
I used YouTube in the production research and planning stage to gather together a portfolio of evidence to gain inspiration. This lead me to looking into: films which incorporated dance, music videos which had elements of dance, and choreography of different styles of dance, to aid the decision of which style of dance would be appropriate.
I used Animoto to present my 25 word pitch to my peers. This form of presentation is something I like to use for small 30 second presentations as it is a lot more interesting and professional. It captures the audiences attention, and it is quick and easy to create so it doesn't take too much time like a Prezi or PowerPoint would.
Construction:
- HD Panasonic Video Camera
- Nikon Camera
- Photoshop
- Final Cut Pro
- YouTube Converter
- iPhone
- Flickr
- iMac
During the construction stages of my products I used many technological devices to ensure that the final product looked professional. During filming of the music video, and photography for the digipak and advert I used two different cameras: HD Panasonic Video Camera and a Nikon. I was familiar with using both beforehand which eased the stress and pressure of production. These technologies are more advanced than they would have been previously, which meant that my products would have a very good pix-elated image.
I used Photoshop and Final Cut Pro on an iMac to create my three products. Due to having previous knowledge again with both softwares and the iMac itself it made production a lot easier than it would of with a lack of experience. Having access to these technologies at school made it possible for my work to be of a high standard providing my efforts were displayed. The developments of these softwares over the years has also increased, meaning there are different and more special effects which can be used to change and adapt my projects to ensure they look more aesthetically pleasing.
My iPhone came into play during filming, where I had the song downloaded on my phone to aid the lip syncing technique, as well as the dance being in time to the music. This small aspect of technology made a great difference with regards to my final product.
I used Flickr to upload my images that I photographed for the production stage of my digipak and advert. This online storage system in my opinion is a safer way of storing my images. This is because technology such as laptops and computers can sometimes go wrong and lose work, therefore I decided the internet was a better place to store it. This is an easier and effective method of storage and made the production stage better.
I used YouTube converter to convert the countdown clock from the opening of my video into a MOV file. As well as this, it allowed me to download the song onto iTunes to use in the program Final Cut. This quick method of download made the editing process significantly easier, than if software wasn't as up to date or speed.
Evaluation:
- YouTube
I used YouTube in my draft evaluation questions to present videos as examples of work I copied. I believed that rather than explaining each, it would be easier and more effective to embed each with in my blogger posts.
I also used two social networking sites to exhibit and distribute my work to friends and family. This then allowed me to gain positive and critical feedback, as well as ensuring my work is posted online for a wide audience to view.
I also used two social networking sites to exhibit and distribute my work to friends and family. This then allowed me to gain positive and critical feedback, as well as ensuring my work is posted online for a wide audience to view.
Friday, 5 December 2014
Digipak Journey Nat
1. My idea started with the hand written signature from Gabrielle Aplin's album
2. This lead me on to looking at particular artist's image I could replicate for my cover, which resulted in me researching into Birdy
3. A black and white theme was something I decided to incorporate into my design a I came across this theme significantly when on Tumblr
4. I researched into lyric booklets and panels to see if they would look good in my design, however I used the idea of having text and tiled this across my three inside panels instead
5. The idea of femenising this digipak played to mind which is why I researched into flower patterns (I ditched this idea after creating my below average draft version)
6. The Jessie Ware album began to make me think about the graphology features of the digipak and where I was going to place everything
7. The idea of an old styled record came into mind when planning my final digipak,as the vintage aesthetic was something which played on my mind from the beginning
8. The piano was something I debated on photographing with my artist for my cover, however I believed it would be too complex for the simplistic edge I wanted
9. Originally we had one female dancer in our video, and I tried to incorporate this in the album, as our single was the major song, however this idea wouldn't have created the correct image
10. After changing from one female dancer to a male and a female, I thought due to the album being emotional filled I could try to use this image to symbolise love. Unfortunately I didn't feel in the end this was necessary
11. I grabbed inspiration for lipstick from this image, as I believed this look would work for my artist, and make her more bold.
12. I used the large back combed hair look from this photo on my artist in the photoshoot, as the pop genre usually contains either big focal points of the eyes or hair to attract the male gaze
13. From this album it inspired me into looking at experimenting with fonts to create a smart aesthetic
14. This image from tumblr inspired me to have a white thick border on my cover, as it creates a neat simple aesthetic
15. The Taylor Swift album cover gave me the idea to thicken the bottom white blocked border to have the artist name. The image used also inspired me, as it was different to normal pop photo conventions
16. The photoshoot allowed me to play around with different camera angles and artist poses to see which worked. I decided to incorporate the Taylor Swift idea, and challenge the conventions of the male gaze
17. I finalised my font to Perpetua Titling which I also happened to use in my music magazine coursework at AS. This was because of its tidy aesthetic
18. I settled on a colour scheme of orange and brown because it was different, but I decided to focus on using colour for my final design as pop albums are mainly vibrantly marketed
19. I researched into autumn leaves as I decided to change my album name to this. It also made me think of how Gabrielle Aplin used the English countryside in her 'English Rain' album
20. I then decided to look into camera angle of leaves (e.g close ups) which would be effective to pan across my three inside panels, as this still created a simple aesthetic
21. My final digipak challenged conventions and met many conventions. I found it a long process of research to come up with my final design, because in my opinion the pop genre is difficult to replicate with a limited budget as it solely revolves around 'the perfect image', because how an artist looks will sell their music
Monday, 1 December 2014
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Draft Music Video Feedback - Nat
Some Nice Shots:
Some of the shots that we have used in our video are framed and with sufficient movement. However there is a limited amount of them which identifies that it took us a while to adjust the camera and the tripod to our comfort. We did struggle for time towards the end because we felt that we weren't as organised as we would have liked. This meant that we did rush shots to make sure that we got enough to use in editing. To overcome this e will make a list of things we need done in each time frame, and we will stick to a precise schedule to ensure that this is done to the best of our ability, to ensure we get good enough marks.
Costume is a real issue:
We have been notified that the costume attire we dress our artists in makes the performance look scruffy and unprofessional. We have decided with large research and thought that it would be a good idea to dress our dancers in similar costume to those in the Ed Sheeran - Thinking out Loud video. Even though the dance in this video is more lyrical/ballroom we still believe that with the costume being more formal in our video it would create a better aesthetic. We will overcome this factor by looking online and resourcing clothing from local high street shops to ensure that this is possible.
More lip sync required, especially the title sequence where the dance is overlaying with the singer:
We were aware after filming when looking at our footage that we only had Katie singing the chorus for most of our filming. Therefore during post production we were aware that we were limited on what we could do. This also meant that some parts of the lip sync do not match as we had to use a few different lyrics here and there to ensure we had a sufficient amount of footage of our artist. We would need to become a lot more organised before re-filming, but we have decided that re-filming everything is something that we should do to ensure we attain the best grade we can.
Make up needs attention, this needs work:
By watching YouTube tutorials it will enable us to gain a better understanding of how to present our artists and our dancers. In many shots both Katie and the dancers look washed out of the shots, and they look particularly young. We would like to completely get rid of this if possible as it means that the overall professionalism of the final product will look better. Unfortunately with pop, and the concept of dance it makes it extremely difficult of us as everything must be the idea of 'perfect' which will mean that effective planning beforehand and organisation is key for us to succeed as a pair.
Full marks will be very very challenging:
We have been made aware the full marks will be challenging because of the music genre that we have chosen. Our contemporary dance video will need to be 'flawless' as any problems or misjudgments will be picked up on. As students, with the technical ability we have, have made it aware that this will be hard to achieve, but all those involved have been made aware how important the video is.
Some of the shots that we have used in our video are framed and with sufficient movement. However there is a limited amount of them which identifies that it took us a while to adjust the camera and the tripod to our comfort. We did struggle for time towards the end because we felt that we weren't as organised as we would have liked. This meant that we did rush shots to make sure that we got enough to use in editing. To overcome this e will make a list of things we need done in each time frame, and we will stick to a precise schedule to ensure that this is done to the best of our ability, to ensure we get good enough marks.
Costume is a real issue:
We have been notified that the costume attire we dress our artists in makes the performance look scruffy and unprofessional. We have decided with large research and thought that it would be a good idea to dress our dancers in similar costume to those in the Ed Sheeran - Thinking out Loud video. Even though the dance in this video is more lyrical/ballroom we still believe that with the costume being more formal in our video it would create a better aesthetic. We will overcome this factor by looking online and resourcing clothing from local high street shops to ensure that this is possible.
More lip sync required, especially the title sequence where the dance is overlaying with the singer:
We were aware after filming when looking at our footage that we only had Katie singing the chorus for most of our filming. Therefore during post production we were aware that we were limited on what we could do. This also meant that some parts of the lip sync do not match as we had to use a few different lyrics here and there to ensure we had a sufficient amount of footage of our artist. We would need to become a lot more organised before re-filming, but we have decided that re-filming everything is something that we should do to ensure we attain the best grade we can.
Make up needs attention, this needs work:
By watching YouTube tutorials it will enable us to gain a better understanding of how to present our artists and our dancers. In many shots both Katie and the dancers look washed out of the shots, and they look particularly young. We would like to completely get rid of this if possible as it means that the overall professionalism of the final product will look better. Unfortunately with pop, and the concept of dance it makes it extremely difficult of us as everything must be the idea of 'perfect' which will mean that effective planning beforehand and organisation is key for us to succeed as a pair.
Full marks will be very very challenging:
We have been made aware the full marks will be challenging because of the music genre that we have chosen. Our contemporary dance video will need to be 'flawless' as any problems or misjudgments will be picked up on. As students, with the technical ability we have, have made it aware that this will be hard to achieve, but all those involved have been made aware how important the video is.
Monday, 10 November 2014
Nat's Feedback
Will Jones
Alex Rhodes
Angus Simmons
Brad Ryan
Jack Green
Chloe Phillips
Krishna Chauhan
Michelle Knight
Millie Leader
Molly Simpson
Friday, 7 November 2014
Digipak and Advert Commentary
The digipak I created was inspired by both Taylor Swift's album 1989 and Gabrielle Aplin's English Rain. The reason as to why I was inspired by these were due to the simplicity and delicate aesthetic which is present across both. Unlike the mainstream pop genre albums which focus on the male gaze predominantly, these two albums focus on the theme of the album, in a less 'in your face' way. This means that the professionalism of the product is in a way easier to recreate as a student, due to our artist not being of the aesthetic which Rihanna is represented like in the media.
The warm filtered theme which runs across my digipak and advert is based around the album title 'Autumn Leaves'. Like Gabrielle Aplin's adaptation of the English countryside I decided to keep a theme of the autumn season. A typical convention of a pop digipak and advert is vibrant colour, therefore I ensured I used this where possible to keep to the conventions. However, overpowering of colour is something I tried to divert from as our artist is known as being indie-pop, so simplicity was still key. Unlike most indie-pop digipaks and adverts they don't present the artist generally on either the CD cover or advert. This made it difficult to make the decision as to whether it was important to have the artists image on mine. Due to pop conventions of presenting the artist across both pieces of media I believed it was important to at least have use at least two different images.
Another convention of a pop digipak and advert is the artist's image attracting the male gaze. With research from Aplin and Swift's albums stating this isn't the case I decided to divert the photography away from the idea of attraction and more towards the tone and emotion of the album. I believe in my opinion this would attract the target audience I have, more so than a different 'in your face' gaze style would.
The inspiration of how our artist is dressed came from multiple artists such as Gabrielle Aplin, Birdy, Taylor Swift, Shannon Saunders and Hannah Grace. Regardless of only three of these artists having record deals presently, I believe the two YouTube starts Saunders and Grace put across an individual style which fits the genre they produce music in, and is effectively simply stereotypical. With a target market of teenage girls primarily, I believe the more simple she is dressed the easier the audience will relate to the artist.My Digipak and Advert:
Thursday, 6 November 2014
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
Digipak Inspiration 2
I have created another mood board, however this time it includes all sorts of images which inspire the reproduction of my digipak. After receiving feedback about my draft it became very clear that the the whole design didn't reflect the pop genre. Another thing which needed improving was the image of our artist. So therefore I have found images to inspire a new style of clothing and hair which will reflect our artist in the best way.
Nat's Digipak Feedback
It became clear to us both that our digipaks needed a rethink and restyle. This is because the photo we are using for a start ant in enough quality, as well as the whole staging of the photo. This means that we need to book the school camera to have a photoshoot this week with our artist to produce better photos. Also, the regular conventions of a pop digipak haven't been met by both Sanj and I with regards to layout. This means that we would both like to do some more research into layout styles to help us improve our drafts.
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