Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Task 4 with script - How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Script for Task 4
Introduction
To film our music video we used a Sony FS100 which gave us the opportunity to use prime lenses allowing us to capture a variety of different frames. We used various lenses to create different visual effects allowing our music video to look more professional. In the studio we used a monitor that reflected what we were filming helping us choose shots more carefully and adjust them when necessary.
After filming we uploaded all our footage to final cut pro and separated it into bins. The different bins included footage we were definitely going to use, footage we could use as well as footage we could use that wasn’t of optimum quality but didn’t want to delete in case it was needed at a later stage. We then synched the performance footage with the music track into several layers, cutting the shots on the beat, which is called rhythmic editing to coincide with the instruments heard on the track with the help of markers in final cut pro. The performance set was helped by the technology in pre-production to make It look professional and fitting to the time through props we brought t on amazon and research we did on the internet to match the 90s era.
0.58
The finishing process was a vital process in our video to give a realistic approach to it. We incorporated a term called sweeding which is when you take an idea and you water it down. In popular culture a film called shoe lace is an example of sweeding. We used a process called motion tracking to place images behind the shots where we used green scree. Motion tracking is when you get the computer to focus on an object to stay on the screen. You then tell the picture to stay through the sh ot so that it looks normal, however the shot itself is not coming.
1.25
When filming we needed to encapsulate the relationship between the performance and narrative. By doing this, our story line had to be clear. To achieve this testing objective, we recorded a set of reaction shots from Maxim that we would cut after the narrative section. This would exemplify the relationship that Maxim has between the band and his desire for the girl. To form a concrete relationship between the performance narratives we had the same set from the performance set and the living room set.
1.53
We had all of the components that were used on the narrative set that were on the performance set to try and bring the video to life. This developed on the conventions that the band are close as we have shown them as a ‘brotherhood’ in our video.
2.02
The performance aspect shows our entire band but the majority of the camera time is given to Maxim as he is the main part. I used a mid-shot to outline where they are, a living room in a house is. This is clearly symbolised through the mise en scene in the room which includes posters, a TV, a fridge and a table.
2.14
The films we chose are romantically based starting with Titanic, then Romeo and Juliet, seven year itch and Dr No. during all of these films there are famous romantic clips, during these clips the main actor, Maxim imagines that he is seeing his love instead of the respective actors that play these roles.
2.25
When the door rings for the pizza delivery the girl he is in love with appears at the door and the shot fades. Throughout our video we included different shots, special effects, editing styles, lighting and props to symbolise the aesthetic we were trying to convey to our audience.
Friday, 7 February 2014
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Task 2 with script - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Richard dyers star image- Richard dyer studied the idea that stars area a construction created through the media via music videos as well as websites and digipaks. Dyer said that stars are often groomed by record companies to appeal to certain audiences, whether to a mass market or a niche audience. Dyer also found that stars are represented to audiences in a certain way to make them seem both ordinary and extraordinary, through different media texts such as music video. Stars can be relatable to the audience without having to be too present, yet still maintaining a connection with their audience, which allows fans to identify with them, yet also see them as superior due to their fame and talent.
In our music video our aim is create an ambience of a 1990’s
working class, student bedsit. The genre of music is indie rock, as well as
Britpop. Henceforth, representing the same format of star image as artists such
as Blue, Oasis and The Smiths. However, we believe our artists to be unique in
that they are capable of combining the light rock music of ‘The La’s’ with the
indie clothing attire. The elements which portray the working class aspect of
the videos would be the modest size and interior elements of the flat. Using
this image of coming from a working class background is an effective marketing
regime, as it allows the majority of the audience to be able to relate to the
band and it makes the band appear ‘just like a normal person’. The posters in
which are presented on the set are also designed to illustrate what the target
audience are also likely to be viewing. This is to increase the audience’s
interest in the piece and also adds an element of realism to the piece as they
would be realistic forms of media in which our band might use. Their style which
is presented by their fashion, their hair and their emotions are similar to
those artists in which we were attempting to emulate. We managed to maintain an
authenticity with our digipak, we thought this type of artist would try to keep
their Album artwork simple as they would try to give off the impression that
they only care about the music and their not too commercialised. This is
mirrored with the Crystal Moon website, whereby we tried to maintain a similar
design in order to regenerate the same image.
The band members are positioned traditionally when performing,
as in the drummer placed at the back, the singer up front and the two guitarists
(one bass, one guitar) either side. This positioning shows aspects of the bands
influences; for example bands such as: The Beatles, The Smiths and the Stone
Roses all of whom are four piece male bands. There proxemics also go well with
their movement which mimes that of those four piece bands, Crystal Moon are a
bit more enthusiastic and this brings excitement to the audience and gives the
audience an idea of the bands personalities and gives the band members a warmth
that the fans love and they enjoy watching the video and performance. the aspect
of the band playing on their instruments in the video adds to the star image
that they are an organic band and they have all taken part in creating the
music. The way in which the band are dressed in 80/90s clothing gives the
audience a feeling of them being in the past which means that they are not
accessible in this present year, yet because of the nature of the narrative and
the band members being such normal guys, the audience feel like they are
accessible but because they are from the 80s/90s they are not. The props of the
telephone and television add to that star image of a retro/vintage band and give
the audience an even more drifted feel. The romantic aspect of the video widens
its target market to men and women.
In our music video we had some use of music stardom by the use
of the set we were to present the characters as a musical band. With the bands
look of a 90’s rock group we were able to replicate the feeling of the 1990’s
along with the older props like the old TV with the VHS tapes.
For our Digipack we had used a very basic design for the cover,
by having a singular couch it demonstrates the simplicity of the band while the
inside of the album it mirrors a pizza box design with the pizza delivery menu
to relate to the video and a sort of grease stain to present the album with the
lead singer of the band. This is all to prove that the band is organic.
The website also reinforces the star image of our band. We’ve
established them as simple, calm organic performers. The website is quite
minimalistic with a simple yet effective font used throughout and not too many
colours. This is similar to the front of our album cover and merchandise. The
font helps people remember our band due to the unique font that we used
throughout the digipak and album cover. This image is then reinforced by the
black and white image of the band on the front cover of our album.
In addition to that we are selling our band as ordinary who like
interact with the audience. Therefore we’ve put Facebook and twitter links on
our website so that we illustrate that our band is reachable and our fans an
communicate with them. Our website includes constant information on our band
which includes tour dates and their everyday activity allowing our audience to
connect with the band.
There are also galleries of our band from the shoot where they
are wearing the same clothes that they were wearing in the actual music video.
This further reinforces the star image and closes the gap between the audience
and the band.
We did not make a contact form deliberately. The problem is that
younger people now choose to communicate through social media sites. We
therefore suggest that our audience is of 15-25 year olds.
Saturday, 1 February 2014
Friday, 17 January 2014
Post-production evaluation
The post-production process is vital when constructing a media product. Post production refers to the technology and processes which occur between the principle shoot and completion of a media product. Post production was a key aspect of making my music video. We had to ensure that all of the post production elements were perfect especially when cutting our music video. My developed skills meant that I could use post production for finishing, the rough cut and visual effects ensuring that my video reached it creative potential.
When editing my rough cut I used a programme called final cut pro which edits in a timeline format. This allows you to have a number of channels open simultaneously enabling you to cut different images at one time. We used a complex cut, taking a more creative approach which was to stack up our shots and then use the rhythm of the track to determine the cutting points using markers and then cutting through the various tracks to make a performance cut. The main tool that we used here was called Blade and was key for cutting the shots without affecting the shot on the layer. We used Multi-layer channels driven by rhythmic editing whilst keeping the form of continuity editing. I used more complex transitions such as fading which made it look aesthetically nice and looked like a professional media product.
Visual effects are undoubtedly a significant factor in ensuring the positive outcome of a media product and we used complex visual effects for our project. We used a process called motion tracking to place images behind the shots where we used green screen. Motion tracking is when you get the computer to focus on an object to stay on the screen. You then tell the picture to stay through the shot so that it looks look however the shot itself is not com. Examples of when we used this is when we captured major movie moments such as the titanic drawing scene and Ursula Andres coming out of the water. We used Chromo key to cut out all of the green and then put what we want behind them we developed a key frame through the motion tracking. The key frame was the pictures that we found. An example of the picture that I used was a subway route for the Marylyn Munroe shot. We wanted it to look as realistic as possible to reach ultimate creativity.
Finishing is a vital part of any media product, when the videos are finished they go through a finishing process to go through the colour so to give it uniformity. You want the scenes to blend through the colour. This includes going over the saturation the exposure. I looked at different colour blends so to give a flowing video. I wanted to minimise all of the different colours so that you have a coherent, aesthetically pleasing view. I used the programme 'Final Cut Colour' which enables me to adjust the colour signatures and bring all of the scenes closer together. There is also a process called grading which alters the texture of . This is where is there is romantic aesthetic then you can put a filter over it to give it a blurred effect. If you want an old look you can add grain etc.
To conclude, it is clear that post production systematically improves a media product, developed skills in post-production allowed the creation of a more successful product outcome. The use of more developed skills in post-production skills improved the quality and creativity of our rough cut allowing us to create a complex cut. We took a creative approach which was to stack up our shots and then use the rhythm of the track to determine the cutting points using markers. A complex editing style was the key to the success of our video simply to convey the narrative and to make sure that the secial effects and the visual effects looked good.
Friday, 6 December 2013
Copyright letter to record company
Dear Go Discs records,
We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:
The La’s- “There She Goes”
With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.
The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.
Kind regards,
Friday, 29 November 2013
Rough Cut Audience Evaluation
After displaying our initial rough cut to a few impartial students at our school, we weren't surprised at the honest feedback we received. The general consensus agreed with us in that our idea has the unique element of the sweded scenes. If edited correctly this could make our music video stand out as one of the better ones. They also thought that we managed to capture some great performance shots and that this should be shown more in our final piece as it strengthens the quality of the video. Despite in my personal rough cut evaluation I spoke about the fact that one of the issues that we found ourselves having was the poor shot management and how the top of the set appeared in certain parts. Having said this, I think we overcame this issue very well and chose shots effectively to hide this and we noted the fact that they didn't notice it, this showed us that our editing skills had been successful as this had been our goal.
One suggestion that came up a few times was to include more shots from the performance scenes as these looked very professional and suited the image that we were looking for. Also as it was a rough cut, we had not completed editing in all the real movie scenes to duplicate the sweded scenes that we created. The encouraging this about this was that we knew this before showing it to them and this was our next step in our development. The fact that they thought the exact same techniques would enhance our final piece meant we knew we were doing the right thing.
Overall, according to Stuart Hall's encoding-decoding model, I would say our rough cut was partially preferred but partly negotiated, henceforth, the feedback was positive. We received no negative feedback on what we presented, but the only reason why I would say it was negotiated was due to the positive criticism and advice we were given to enhance our piece. However they all liked it and didn't think there was too much work that needed to be done.
One suggestion that came up a few times was to include more shots from the performance scenes as these looked very professional and suited the image that we were looking for. Also as it was a rough cut, we had not completed editing in all the real movie scenes to duplicate the sweded scenes that we created. The encouraging this about this was that we knew this before showing it to them and this was our next step in our development. The fact that they thought the exact same techniques would enhance our final piece meant we knew we were doing the right thing.
Overall, according to Stuart Hall's encoding-decoding model, I would say our rough cut was partially preferred but partly negotiated, henceforth, the feedback was positive. We received no negative feedback on what we presented, but the only reason why I would say it was negotiated was due to the positive criticism and advice we were given to enhance our piece. However they all liked it and didn't think there was too much work that needed to be done.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Evaluation of Rough Cut
As a group we were all impressed when reviewing the footage we managed to gather on our shoot day. We thought especially the performance section was good. Having said this, along with the strengths, it was inevitable that there were going to be certain things that we would change if we were to re-do the task. Also we knew there would be a few problems which would need addressing. One example of this was that in some of the performance scenes, there are sections where the top of the set is visible. This problem cannot be seen in the final product as it will appear unprofessional and poorly done. Our way of solving this problem was to choose other shots of the same section of the song, this maintains fluidity in the music video and the song but avoids this poor effect. Another problem that we had was mistimed lip sinking which will require some editing to make sure the performance scenes look realistic.
As we were very late to have our shoot day compared to the other groups, we have had less time to edit so far. Therefore a lot of work is still to be done, despite our efficient and speedy progress. This means that we haven't began editing the sweded scenes which is the part that we were most worried about editing as we used a green screen. This will be difficult as it is our task to make the scenes look poor and so we will have to edit it in a way that represents this. I think we helped ourselves out with this though by filming it handheld rather than using a stand. This will already make it look unprofessional and puts us in good stead for achieving the effects we want from the green screen.
As we were very late to have our shoot day compared to the other groups, we have had less time to edit so far. Therefore a lot of work is still to be done, despite our efficient and speedy progress. This means that we haven't began editing the sweded scenes which is the part that we were most worried about editing as we used a green screen. This will be difficult as it is our task to make the scenes look poor and so we will have to edit it in a way that represents this. I think we helped ourselves out with this though by filming it handheld rather than using a stand. This will already make it look unprofessional and puts us in good stead for achieving the effects we want from the green screen.
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Evaluation of Shoot day
As we had our Shoot day on Thursday 14th November, we decided that Monday the 11th was the day where we would make sure all the props were ready for Thursday. We watched the scenes in which we would be recreating to make sure that we had everything needed. Having 3 days between the prop check and the shoot day meant we had time to order anything that we were missing on Amazon to avoid looking unprofessional and lacking in props.
On Wednesday the 13th, the day before our shoot day, we got everything ready and prepared for the following day. This including putting the props in a specific order to ensure that everything would be accessible when we needed it the following day, this was an attempt to speed things up and avoid delays of searching for props. We also had to design the set which was in a rectangular shape which would be to represent the 'student bedsit' look which we were aiming for. This would either be filled with the performance scene, eg; drum set, guitars etc or the narrative scene, including TV, sofa, and fridge.
On the morning of the shoot, I felt we were as prepared as we possibly could have been considering the work and organisation which had been applied beforehand. Before shooting we had the responsibility of ensuring all our actors were comfortable with their roles and as prepared as they possibly could be in terms of costume, knowing the lyrics and cords, etc.
I think we managed to convey the perfect image for the scene we were trying to create. We decorated the set with a sofa, a TV, numerous amounts of posters and a fridge. This would to give the view the impression we were in a 'student bedsit' environment. The posters were also representative of the potential interests of the fake characters we were trying to create. Examples of the posters include; Pulp Fiction, Nirvana, Trainspotting and Pink Floyd.
I thought that as a group, we worked tremendously well as a group and shared and divided the roles without any disputes or disagreements. The roles involved filming, playback, camera focus and measuring distances and prop work. I believe we maintained a good balance between exploiting our strengths but at the same time ensuring that everyone was able to get involved in every aspect of the task.
Before the shoot day I had never really seen filming as one of my strengths and was quite nervous that I would struggle to capture worthwhile footage on the day. Despite this, I decided to get as involved as I could in the filming and I believe I managed to exceed expectations and I have developed a confidence in which never existed before.
The only problem that we encountered on the day of the shoot was a missing prop. We did not have a pizza outfit for our actress (Alice) to wear. At the beginning of the day this was a worry but we then decided that what she was wearing would look realistic if she wore a cap, especially considering we had remembered the Pizza delivery bag and the pizza boxes themselves. After previewing what it would look like, we came to the conclusion that this would definitely suffice and it actually looked quite believable.
Personally, I think the performance part of the shoot which was done in the morning was without the doubt the most impressive that we did throughout the day. Not only were the actors, to their credit, incredibly well prepared, but I also believe our set was exceptional and we managed to get some extremely good camera angles, allowing us to edit the footage effectively as we decided that having the most angles possible would enable to fulfil our editing capabilities and allow us to make the final piece appear very professional.
As I have mentioned, I am elated with the way in which the shoot was conducted. However the sweded scenes will require a lot of editing. It was a difficult balance to perfect ensuring that we purposefully make the scene look like it's meant to look unprofessional but at the same time we couldn't make it look like we were just filming it poorly unintentionally. Having said this I am not concerned as I believe within our group we have the capabilities to edit it effectively.
I thought as a group, the team chemistry was excellent as we got on very well. This included pre-production and during the day. This was fundamental to the success of our shoot and final production considering the vast quantity of props in which we needed. This meant we had to delegate separate roles and responsibilities. Despite we lacked the pizza outfit, this was a minute problem bearing in mind what could have potentially gone wrong considering our huge prop list.
Making our website and artwork before our shoot was definitely a bit of a gamble considering much could change on the day if there are certain things we could add to their image which we hadn't thought of. I thought we stuck to the image of the website and artwork fairly well but possibly the idea of them being working class was only developed on the day in the 'student bedsit'. This could possibly mean slight alterations to the website could be productive.
On Wednesday the 13th, the day before our shoot day, we got everything ready and prepared for the following day. This including putting the props in a specific order to ensure that everything would be accessible when we needed it the following day, this was an attempt to speed things up and avoid delays of searching for props. We also had to design the set which was in a rectangular shape which would be to represent the 'student bedsit' look which we were aiming for. This would either be filled with the performance scene, eg; drum set, guitars etc or the narrative scene, including TV, sofa, and fridge.
On the morning of the shoot, I felt we were as prepared as we possibly could have been considering the work and organisation which had been applied beforehand. Before shooting we had the responsibility of ensuring all our actors were comfortable with their roles and as prepared as they possibly could be in terms of costume, knowing the lyrics and cords, etc.
I think we managed to convey the perfect image for the scene we were trying to create. We decorated the set with a sofa, a TV, numerous amounts of posters and a fridge. This would to give the view the impression we were in a 'student bedsit' environment. The posters were also representative of the potential interests of the fake characters we were trying to create. Examples of the posters include; Pulp Fiction, Nirvana, Trainspotting and Pink Floyd.
I thought that as a group, we worked tremendously well as a group and shared and divided the roles without any disputes or disagreements. The roles involved filming, playback, camera focus and measuring distances and prop work. I believe we maintained a good balance between exploiting our strengths but at the same time ensuring that everyone was able to get involved in every aspect of the task.
Before the shoot day I had never really seen filming as one of my strengths and was quite nervous that I would struggle to capture worthwhile footage on the day. Despite this, I decided to get as involved as I could in the filming and I believe I managed to exceed expectations and I have developed a confidence in which never existed before.
The only problem that we encountered on the day of the shoot was a missing prop. We did not have a pizza outfit for our actress (Alice) to wear. At the beginning of the day this was a worry but we then decided that what she was wearing would look realistic if she wore a cap, especially considering we had remembered the Pizza delivery bag and the pizza boxes themselves. After previewing what it would look like, we came to the conclusion that this would definitely suffice and it actually looked quite believable.
Personally, I think the performance part of the shoot which was done in the morning was without the doubt the most impressive that we did throughout the day. Not only were the actors, to their credit, incredibly well prepared, but I also believe our set was exceptional and we managed to get some extremely good camera angles, allowing us to edit the footage effectively as we decided that having the most angles possible would enable to fulfil our editing capabilities and allow us to make the final piece appear very professional.
As I have mentioned, I am elated with the way in which the shoot was conducted. However the sweded scenes will require a lot of editing. It was a difficult balance to perfect ensuring that we purposefully make the scene look like it's meant to look unprofessional but at the same time we couldn't make it look like we were just filming it poorly unintentionally. Having said this I am not concerned as I believe within our group we have the capabilities to edit it effectively.
I thought as a group, the team chemistry was excellent as we got on very well. This included pre-production and during the day. This was fundamental to the success of our shoot and final production considering the vast quantity of props in which we needed. This meant we had to delegate separate roles and responsibilities. Despite we lacked the pizza outfit, this was a minute problem bearing in mind what could have potentially gone wrong considering our huge prop list.
Making our website and artwork before our shoot was definitely a bit of a gamble considering much could change on the day if there are certain things we could add to their image which we hadn't thought of. I thought we stuck to the image of the website and artwork fairly well but possibly the idea of them being working class was only developed on the day in the 'student bedsit'. This could possibly mean slight alterations to the website could be productive.
Friday, 8 November 2013
Evaluation of Website
Making a website for Crystal Moon (our imaginary band) was really effective for bringing the band to life and making it much more like a realistic band using another platform of social media to market and promote the band. The website includes, a giftshop, background information about the band and tour dates for the forthcoming year. We decided that these things should be included because we looked at the websites of other bands and these were common inclusions and so we decided to do the same to make us fit in amongst the likes of Oasis, Kasabian and Blur.
I think the layout of the website is very impressive and makes us look like a professional group of producers. The design is not only attractive but is also very simple and easy to understand which is key for websites, it is very 'user-friendly'. I also think the content is good and realistic. Within our group we delegated separate roles to prepare the website and I was asked to complete the Tour dates. Rather than just writing down the cities and the dates, I researched into the capacities of arenas, found ones that our imaginary band could realistically fill out and chose those.
We are going on 3 tours, one to Europe, one to North America and One to the Uk and every venue used on the website is a real venue which is used for music. I thought this attention for detail may give us an edge over other groups as it makes it much more realistic.
Despite the positives, I think we were restricted with the website creator that we used as it only allowed us to use 4 pages whereas another website may allow more and we could have delved into further detail about a few things to help make the band more convincing as obviously a famous band would not have these website restrictions. Overall I think we adjusted and dealt with these limitations well though and produced a good final website.
I think the layout of the website is very impressive and makes us look like a professional group of producers. The design is not only attractive but is also very simple and easy to understand which is key for websites, it is very 'user-friendly'. I also think the content is good and realistic. Within our group we delegated separate roles to prepare the website and I was asked to complete the Tour dates. Rather than just writing down the cities and the dates, I researched into the capacities of arenas, found ones that our imaginary band could realistically fill out and chose those.
We are going on 3 tours, one to Europe, one to North America and One to the Uk and every venue used on the website is a real venue which is used for music. I thought this attention for detail may give us an edge over other groups as it makes it much more realistic.
Despite the positives, I think we were restricted with the website creator that we used as it only allowed us to use 4 pages whereas another website may allow more and we could have delved into further detail about a few things to help make the band more convincing as obviously a famous band would not have these website restrictions. Overall I think we adjusted and dealt with these limitations well though and produced a good final website.
Monday, 28 October 2013
Importance of Website
The official website is key to the band, because no matter how organic and talented a band is, they still need to market themselves and make the public want to invest in them, through their music such as tickets, CD's and online downloads or merchandise such as T shirts and mugs. Advertising is crucial to any product, and any band is a product that depends on sales to survive. Despite many bands have the image of only performing to make music, they all want to sell as many copies as possible to gain revenue.
Explanation for album cover choices
All 4 of these choices are all British bands and all considered to be quite indie. This was a large influence on our choice because the artist of the original song 'The La's' were also British and Indie. We had to make sure we made Crystal Moon look like a talented, organic band such as these, we did not want them to look like a media hungry band and it was important that they came across as a band who were driven by producing good music rather than hits on Youtube and money. The appearance of an album cover is absolutely fundamental for any band and it can define them and give them an image even before the music is played. 'Never judge a book by its cover' is very relevant here as it's common knowledge that we all do it subconsciously.
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