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

What have you learned from audience feedback?

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

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

Question 1 by

Evaluation Question 1 - In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The media concepts of: genre, narrative, institutions, representation, audience and overall media language can be applied to my media coursework. The song I chose ‘Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra) by The Vaccines took the form of the Indie genre. The concepts can also be applied to my magazine advert and digipak.

My music video features solely of performance and has no narrative running through it. I did this because the song was fast and upbeat, so a narrative style would not fit well. Moreover, the lyrics in the song are so random and without a true meaning, meaning it would be hard for me to add a narrative to a song that doesn’t give much away. This challenges and subverts the conventions of typical music videos as the majority have a narrative running parallel with the performance. I mainly features on a series of close ups of different characters in ‘weird and wacky’ costumes. This reinforced the random lyrics as the audience could interpret the characters how they wished and relate to each one differently. No close up was on the screen for my than 5 seconds meaning the song flowed very quickly so that the audience was not bored. The lyrics say “Ra, ra, ra” several times throughout the video and this gave me great opportunity to use a technique used in many songs in which they use the speed and beat of the song to cut the scene. Every time the words “ra ra ra” was said I would do a series of fast cuts in time with the music video which worked effectively.

 In my video there is also a link between the music and visuals, a concept created by music video theorist, Andrew Goodwin. There are no female models in my video, challenging the typical music video. Additionally Goodwin suggests that part of the appeal of music videos is voyeurism and the notion of looking, and my music video does not conform to this partly because there is no narrative running through and partly because there are no females in my video. 

From this I can apply Laura Mulvey’s theory of the voyeuristic male gaze. As there is no female to be ‘gazed’ at, this theory does not work however, Mulvey identified two types of the male gaze: ‘voyeuristic’ and ‘fetishistic’. The voyeuristic male gaze refers to seeing women as objects of possession to their male counterparts, whilst the fetishistic male gaze refers to seeing women as glamorous and independent women otherwise known as 'Madonna's'. However, the voyeuristic gaze in my video comes from the performers looking at the audience. Each shot features the performer staring into the camera giving direct eye contact with the viewer. This once again challenges the codes and conventions of music videos as there is mainly a female to attract the male gaze.

The male characters on my video all take different forms. Many of the characters have several personas meaning the audience can interpret them how they wish and relate to each one individually. Using close ups and medium close ups of my performers mean that you can never see their height or body leaving that a mystery to the viewer. This challenges the conventions of typical music videos as the performer has to be ‘perfect’ to entice a wide range of people and entice them to the video. Mine does not do this as I like to leave it open and up to the audience to interpret it how they want.

My music video fits into the indie music genre, and so as a result follows many of the generic conventions, which was also suggested in Goodwin’s music video theory. However it mainly challenges the conventions for example, my video features only male models, and typically indie music use females in their music videos as a large portion of fans of their music are heterosexual males. It could be said that the objectification of and voyeuristic attitude towards women are characteristic of indie music videos, however my video challenges this. Compared to rap music videos for example, my video does not focus on the material wealth of the artist; instead it focusses on the music and the artist’s performance.

I have conformed to several stereotypical features of an Indie music video. The music video and song ‘Matilda’ by the band Alt-J also uses a series of close ups in their music videos. Additionally I dressed the band members in clothes similar to both real-life performers and fans of indie music. For example, they are all wearing relatively dark colours but somewhere Indie style glasses and others wear checked shirts to relate to different people. This is conventional, and allows the audience to relate to them.

Primarily, the target audience for my music video will be males aged from 15-25. These males will be generally heterosexual and conform to the Indie genre. The males in the narrative are of the same age as the target audience, this allows them to relate to the performers enticing them to the music video. However, my video, like many other Indie music videos, would also attract a secondary female audience of a similar age. This is due to the style of the music instead of the artist and performers. However there may be a tendency for the female audience to watch as they may be sexually attracted to the performers.

With my video, it is easy to apply Bulmer and Katz’ ‘Uses and Gratifications’ theory which states the primary reasons as to why audiences consume media types: entertainment; surveillance; personal identity and personal relationships. My video features a ‘fun’ and ‘eccentric’ feel to it so audiences would mainly watch it because of ‘entertainment’ and visual pleasure. Moreover, some may watch the video for personal identity as they may relate to the performers and lyrics in the video.

The irregular format and unconventional narrative style of my music video means that it is hard to apply Todorov’s narrative theory to it. It is quite basic meaning the equilibrium-disruption-new equilibrium template cannot or is hard to be applies to it. In terms of my video, it just follows equilibrium throughout. As the song’s lyrics are random and do not follow a conventional format, applying this theory if difficult. However, the music starts off fast and upbeat, paralleling equilibrium in Todorov’s theory. Although, throughout the song, the music does change a little, going from fast paced to slower pace. These two separate narratives conform to the postmodern ideal of scepticism towards metanarratives, by toying with generic conventions the black-and-white narrative enforces this sense of postmodernism, and overall my video has a strong sense of style over substance.

The editing of my video was not complicated to a professional; however it was difficulty for me as I had never used Adobe After Effects before. I started by taking away the background on Adobe After Effects as I filmed on a green screen. I put in different colours so that each colour fit in with the tone and feel of the video, challenging typical Indie music videos. I then added a gradient to make it look more professional yet still keeping the simplistic feel of the song.

Magazine Advert

Although my music video does not conform entirely to the conventions of real life media products, my magazine advert does. The name of the artist is located at the top of the page so the audience are immediately drawn to it. Also I have featured the name of the single in big bold font so that it is easily recognisable. I have a quote and a star rating from the Guardian and NME newspaper that appear on several albums covers, critiquing an album.  Many of my audience will read these newspapers and magazines meaning they will be able to relate to it. Moreover, at the bottom of the page there is a caption saying ‘available on itunes’ which is important in the current technological revolution of this time. I have also included a blackberry pin code so that the audience can get new alerts about the band sent straight to their phone. A blackberry is a phone commonly used by my target audience and is essential in enticing this demographic. The primary colour of navy blue that is featured throughout my products is very basic and simplistic like the music the audience here, adhering to real life media products. I have used a female model to attract and entice a different kind of audience. It will attract males on a  voyeuristic approach as well as other females who can relate to the performer. 

Digipak

My digipak unlike my music video adhered to the conventions of digipaks. It contained the same colour scheme found throughout my poster so that the audience can recognise it easily. This made it look professional, as if it had been done by the band themselves. For my digipkl I took photos of my model in different Indie locations such as, the woods, a park and in an urban area on a brick wall. This gave a great Indie feel about the digipak and I could use the pictures effectively on my album cover. The text I initially used was Impact as it stood out and I had used it before on other products, however, I thought it looked unprofessional and did not quite match the genre so I changed it to Bodoni which was a lot more unique and fitted with the genre.

My digipak also has the blackberry pin located on the inside cover which happens to be a lyric book, something I haven’t seen on any other digipaks in a long time, so is quite unique. Also it include the institutional information including: the producer, the record label and the name of the album and date, adhering to the common Indie digipak. It also features a bar code so that it feels as real as possible.   

Overview of the course and of adjustments

Digipak 2- Final

Magazine Advert 2 - Final

Final Music Video

Cw Guide - A chronological blog of activities

Diary Entry

I have now finished my music video, digipak and magazine adverts and am currently completing my last evaluation question. I have uploaded both my digipak and my magazine advert onto my blog so it can be seen be everyone. As soon as my music video has uploaded on youtube I will upload it on my blog.

4 Page Digipak- Final

Magazine Advert 1 - Final

Diary Entry

I have gained audience feedback on my products by using three individuals of differing age and demographic  One is of my target audience and their views are the more important however the other two give be an unbiased opinion on my products allowing me to change if necessary.

Magazine Advert - Draft vs Final

This is my first draft magazine advert. It features the house color 'red' as I thought this would stand out. However it does not reflect the genre well so it was changed. Also, instead f advertising the album, I thought advertising the song would be better as it gave a tighter focus on the product. The text is 'Impact' as I though again it would stand out and attract attention which it doe, but like the color does not reflect the Indie genre. The star rating at the bottom I though looked rushed and unprofessional as well a the 'Available on iTunes'.







I changed the text to 'Bodoni' which looks more professional and I think it reflects the genre a lot more. The layout of the images was changed slightly as I though this was simply looked better. I added a blackberry pin to relate to the target audience. the main change though is the colour which has gone from Red to Navy Blue. Also the advert promoted the album now, instead of the single which gave me a wider focus so I could add more.

Diary Entry

Now that I have finished my magazine advert and my digipak I can focus n my evaluations as well as completing my music video on Adobe After effects. All of my evaluations will done in a different format, for example: PoswerPoint/Slideshare, Word/Scribd, Premier, Prezi etc. This will add variety to my blog.

Diary Entry

I have imported my exported premier file into Adobe After Effects to begin editing my video. Firstly I separated all the layers out and then I have removed the background and enhanced the image so that I can remove the green background I filmed on the green screen. I will now add different background colours and effects to my video. 

Alterations - Digipak (Prezi)

Diary Entry

I am currently changing my digipak and poster after realizing they do not fit in with the Indie genre of music. I have completely changed the colour scheme and images on each making them conform to the stereotypical Indie genre. It is difficult as it is a long and tiring process but it will be worth it after it is done.

Alterations made along the way - Digipak

I started creating my digipak using the colour red as the primary theme running through my work. However, after looking at more Indie music digipaks I noticed that mine did not fit in with the conventional format. I then changed my colour to a dark blue and changed the font to a more simple, basic font that fitted in with the genre.
I also changed the primary image to a picture that looks more 'urban' and 'gritty' fitting in with the Indie theme on my digipak and my poster.

Before - 

 After -

Digipak Construction

I have started creating a four page digipak to accompany my ongoing music video and magazine advert. The digipak advertises the album cover 'What did you expect from The Vaccines?'. I started by downloading a template and then took photos of a model who fits in with the Indie genre. He wears similar clothes of the target audience, enticing them to come and but the album. He is also of the same age range, 16-24. I have started to complete it on Adobe Photoshop and will use both the picture editing tools and basic tools in creating my digipak.

Diary Entry

I have produced a model contract so the person that I am taking photos of has a contract on which to rely on. Also I have produced Raw footage of my filming process to track my development in the editing process. Moreover, I completed my magazine advert draft and sketched my planning for my final one which I will produce soon.

Magazine advert planning

This is a rough sketch of what I want my magazine ad to look like. I have researched many other magazine ads from similar bands such as Coldplay and Alt J and have based it on them.

Model Contract

Raw footage

Raw footage of my performance.

Diary Entry

I have completed several publications such as: my proposal and my risk assessment forms which are important in my creation of a successful music video. The risk assessment is vital as there a re many risks that needed to be addressed, and this helps me keep on track of it.

Rough Cut

Rough Cut of my Music Video

Filming Schedule

My filming schedule features all of the times that the study will be used and when I will be filming.

Proposal

A proposal of my ideas and task when creating my music video.

Risk Assessment

An assessment of the risks that could occur when filming my music video.

Article Poster Draft

This is my first draft of my poster that would appear in a music magazine advertising my music video and new single. I have created this on Adobe Photoshop as well as taking pictures with a Canon 550D. I have used them like this because it gives an Individual effect, paralleling the Indie genre.

Diary Entry

I uploaded my document on Slide Share of my Raw Location footage. They basically outline why have I have chosen certain locations and capture me in mid process filming my music video.

Diary Entry

I have uploaded old documents including my Location Recce and my Equipment sheet. These just outline which pieces of equipment I will use and why I will use them. Moreover, my location recce details why I chose each location and for what reason. These are important for my planning and they let me know if I have have done everything successfully and professionally as I can then go back and check after.

Equipment List

Location Recce

Raw Location Photographs

Initial Planning Ideas

Inital planning ideas from JamieAllen8

Diary Entry

After finishing my music video I felt that I needed to add more footage. So this weekend I will take a camera home and shoot some more footage. I will then add to my music video next week and put it into after effects to improve and effects to make it look more professional.

Genre

This is how I will analyse my music video for section 1B of the exam.

Editing Software

Diary Entry

After shooting my music video I uploaded it onto Adobe Premier Pro where I have begun editing it. It is a long process as I have  a lot of footage compared to most people but I think it will be worth it once it is completed. After, I will use After Effects to add effects and make it look professional.

Diary Entry

I have filmed the first part of my music video with a Canon 550D Camera. I used the schools lighting and green screen. We did 7 shoots of it so I have plenty of footage to start with. The shots I got were head shots of the people.

Evidence of music videos that influence you

Alt J are an Indie band similar to Vaccines. In this video, similar to the previous one, it features a series of close ups similar to my own video.

 Although not part of my genre this music video was my inspiration for the style and theme of my own.

Props and Clothing

Props and clothing from JamieAllen8

Storyboard to music video

A brief storyboard of what I hope my video will look like.