Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Friday, 16 January 2015
Evaluation Question 4 Final - Sanj
(Please enlarge for best quality/ effects)
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Researching and Planning
Blogger:
Having used Blogger during my AS coursework and in my spare time, I have felt confident with its use and functions for updating and publishing my work.
It has allowed all stages of the project to be stored in a single place, with a navigation panel showing the work that has completed during the creation of the music video and ancillary products. This, in my opinion is the best way for our project to be presented as the website is accessible via the internet, this has meant that there are constant opportunities for improvements, additional work and its history to be found be all users.
Blogger has put at ease the way that the work would be presented. The website supports images, videos, texts and embedded documents that have proved crucial for evidence of planning, thoughts and research across the process of the project, this gives both I and others looking at the work a clear understanding of what needs to be done and the overall image that is going to be created through the products.
In addition, the website can be shared via a range of communication methods; social networks have been a primary example. Having a simple URL means that it can be accessed by anyone ensuring that there is constant feedback to help make the work the best possible standard, it also shows how well the project is going and any changes or problems that would potentially occur.
Animoto:
When producing the twenty-five word pitch, a short video featuring text and images was most suitable for those watching. Having a restricted time and frame limit, it meant that the words and images has to form a clear representation of what our main project was. With set templates, it meant that a large task could be done quickly and easily, ensuring that work was productive and time was managed effectively.
Twitter:
The use of social networks have been very important as a communication method for both peers and our target market.
Twitter, allowed me to communicate with teachers and peers for when advice was needed. This was used during the filming stage, where I was able to ask for guidance with the type of work and camera angles that would be efficient for the video's appearance. Its quick responses meant that the work at the time would be changed and it would be better suited after the changes had been made from the advice given.
Creating a twitter profile for our singer helped to create a fanbase for Billie White/ Katie Jones and the type of music that she was producing. Under a alias I was able to tweet and post pictures of photoshoots and filming locations in a hope to create a sense of realism of the people that 'followed' her. Having created it through the mobile app, responses that would be needed would be 24/7 and on the go, this helped to create a refine a fanbase to only those that would be interested to see or her the new music that was being released.
Flickr:
When conducting the first and second photoshoot, Flickr helped to ensure that they could be accessed in one single place. Having them uploaded on a photosharing website had meant that the photos taken where available to use for anyone looking in the album. This website came into primarily use during the ancillary products, where the difference in designs meant that different images of our singer had to be used.
The photo's uploaded on the website could be shared on the coursework blog and other websites, such as social media. This meant that there was enough people to suggest photos that could be used as well as approving the mise en scene of the artist. It allowed a small market to be created, providing a clear indication of what looked good on camera.
Scribd:
An alternative way of uploading word documents, it was a back up in case that some software was unavailable while allowing certain features not available on other programmes to be displayed ie. a table.
Photoshop:
An alternative way of publishing documents that may contain images and text. Photoshop was a programme that I had already mastered in the previous years coursework and proved easy to use. With the experience I had gained, I was able to create basic moodboards and visual journeys that showed the progress I made in a professional format.
The products I created on photoshop would often be posted on the coursework blog, adding to the work that had already been created.
Microsoft Office Word:
Microsoft word is has been a alternative way of producing work that could be published in a text post. Embedding the documents via Scribd, I was able to publish work that prove beneficial for the journey made during the music video processes.
Paint:
Paint was a piece of software that allowed me to print-screen comments, save them as a image and ultimately publish them on the coursework blog. This was effective when publishing the comments that I had made on other people's work and the comments that where made on my work. Showing the comments made proved to be useful when looking at the input that I was given and the way that I had acted on the response. This could be elements such as changing a image on a ancillary product or ensuring that the twenty-five word pitch was short and refined.
In addition, I was also able to publish the work that I had created on separate pieces of software and post them as images. Documents such as the 'visual digipak journey' where made on documents that where not restricted in their use, as a result the work of Paint allowed me to show others the progress that I had created in a image format.
The use of screenshots and Paint was useful for especially for blogger. It allowed me to add to the work that I had already created, providing aid and refinement for the work that I was producing.
Filming
HD Camera:
Primary recording equipment, on loan from the collage - the footage gathered from the video was filmed through it. Its HD display and wide range of uses helped to ensure that the best footage was caught in every clip that was made.
Lighting Equipment:
Provided by the filming studio, light boxes where provided. With access to three sets of lights the video was set with an equal balance of 'natural' lighting to help convey a sense of realism for the viewer. It also helped to create a visual link between the name of the song and what featured in the video, helping to create a hidden meaning - something that the target audience would be interested in.
The light ensured that everybody looked professional and enjoyable to watch, during the filming stage lights where used to manipulate shadows and help to ensure that the narrative of the story was effective throughout.
Speaker:
Through the Iphone the speaker amplified the pre-recorded song that our artist had lip-sync'd to. The music was loud enough to make sure that Katie did not feel embarrassed and was therefore able to carry out a confident performance. In addition, it helped others involved know the song in case they where needed (which happened to the female dancer) it made sure that people worked at the same time and the overall appearance appeared successful.
Iphone:
The Iphone was used to remain our singer the lyrics of Standing in the Way of The Light. Having downloaded a copy, the dancers where able to practise their routine with the song in mind, while our singer was able to match her voice to the pre-recorded song. This meant that editing the video was easy, as much of the song we needed was appropriate and suited the entrity of the song.
The phone as also used to access social networks sites, helping to make sure that the work we had been prepared to do was logged and approved by others.
The Iphone as also used to take photos of the model in the initial photoshoot, this was basic equipment and something that was sorted before the creation of ancillary products.
Post Production:
Mac's:
With the editing software only programmed to Mac's it meant that the music video would be edited from there. Being restricted to computer use only, I had little knowledge of the software of the computer itself. Through peer support and classroom activities I can say that my skills have advanced to a better stage. I have been able to successfully aid my group member in editing the video in a framed deadline as well as providing advice and opinions about its design. The software itself is not technical, but practise has allowed me to excel.
Final Cut Pro 10:
Software only available on Mac's and used by professional people within the media industry. Having little knowledge of experience of final cut I have advanced my knowledge during the music video project. Its ability to cut and add effects has been particularity effective for the video that we/I have created and has ensured that it stands out from others of the same genre. With pre-lim tasks I have been able to confidently use this software to much to a stage where I can produce a four minuet long song.
Youtube:
Posting the final music video on Youtube was a way to share the work to internet users. As a platform for music videos, people searching for music would likely to find the video and leave feedback, this will help with evaluation processes as it will provide a clear indication of the target market, those that prefer the video and the changes that could have been made to ensure that it was at a higher standard. Posting on Youtube means that the video is accessible for all constantly, encouraging the much needed criticism and response.
Social Networks:
Where used to broadcast the news of the completed music video, both mine and my partner's Facebook and Twitter featured the URL to the website, encouraging people to watch it and to leave feedback and responses. This was a quick and efficent way to market both my main and anciallry product and social networks have become a depednacny and quick way of communcation for people today.
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.
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