Farewell Post

Goodbye from all of us :(, Sayonora and Arigatou Gou-shaimastte 

Evaluation question 4 - Etienne

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

During the production stages of our media products our main equipment was the Canon EOS 650 camera which was used in things like our video making and taking photos for our print products e.g leaflets, covers, posters.

It's use was essential to our group as without it we wouldn't have been able to get the high quality and noise-free recordings, and the functionality is better comparable to something like a handheld camera. Using the camera puts us in a more creative position and puts us in the role of the director and the cinematogropher, as it allows us to choose how we want to frame a shot entirely. We could experiment with our shots and choose creative ways to film e.g wall mounted and pov shots.

We already have a years worth of experience from watching youtube videos and learning how to use the camera through the AS preliminary work we did last year. Furthermore it's very customisable which could possibly be a downside to people that are new to DSLRS however its user friendly to people which have experience with DSLRS already. It's low battery life and fragility meant we had to be careful when we were handling it in order to not break it. Initially, when filming our first take for the musical performances our battery ended up dying as a result we had to return to later get all the takes we needed. On our next recording we had two back up batteries in order not to slow down our progress.

Blogger

An essential part of our research is the website blogger. It's an online social media platform that allows users to post images, text and videos. The functions it included was essential to my group as we used it to get things like case-studies and also to have a convergence point where we could re-direct our audiences to things like youtube and social media websites. Our advantage with blogger is that we had one years worth of experience using it from our As coursework which meant it's familiarity made it easier to get the blog exactly how we wanted it with our decorations and our embeddings. It has a learning curve but it is not steep enough to deter new users but rather encourages them to look for more creative designs and posting methods for example we used another embedded link from a different website to get slideshows on our blog. A disadvantage of Blogger was the fact that glitches sometimes meant our work often got deleted by accident or not posted at all.

Prezi

Prezi is a website that my group used for our 3 music video research including contemporary, controversial and seminal videos. It doesn't include any paid firewalls unlike Microsoft power point which meant my whole group could use it. Furthermore it was easy to embed it into my blog whenever I wanted but sometimes the links didn't work and required me to goto the website to open them up which is a massive detriment as its ease of access was meant to be the main selling. We used it to create our posters by importing the pictures, colour correcting, then putting fonts over it. We then exported to photoshop to make fine edits.

Imacs

The iMacs were also an essential part of our groups equipment as without it a-lot of the software wouldn't be accessible to us. It's quick and easy to navigate  UI allowed us to work diligently and be able to have our work laid out in a clear unobtrusive way. We have been used to them since last year and also some of us have them at home meaning we are able to work on our projects in more than one setting. The biggest disadvantage is that most of us were used to windows based OS so the mac OS was very new to us initially and we had to re-learn things like key commands.

Adobe photoshop

Adobe photoshop was a key part in our digi-pack production phase. It's a photo editing software and It has a very steep learning curve meaning those who aren't used to it would've struggled. We had to google youtube tutorials in order to understand what we were doing, and often the software was very unforgiving as it does exactly what you want it to and if you didn't know what you were doing you often ruined your own work. Which for those adept at it would be better accustomed to, but beginners would often be frustrated with it. After spending a few months with the software we gained insight by google tutorials and spending time after class to develop our work.

Canva

 The website canva was used in conjunction with photoshop as it came with a number of preloaded fonts and styles which we used heavily to plan our digipacks then imported unto photoshop to make final edits. It's mostly free however some of the premium styles cost a-lot and were usually better. It's an essential part of our production phase, as our print products included fonts from the website.

Final cut pro 

 Final cut pro was another essential part of our software use. It's a video editing software which includes editing and pre-made transitions. It was very user friendly and came loaded with many diegetic sounds which made it easier to work with. It's drag and drop feature is very beginner friendly and mostly all we used. We have had a long amount of experience with it since our As preliminary phase, were we learnt about things like cuts and edit to make our videos seem more proffesional. We sometimes ended up accidentally deleting all our work but usually we came back with a better video in the end. We used it when cutting together many of the scenes and it has a feature where we can upload it straight to youtube. but a disadvantage is the massive lag that occurs which could be workable if the software allowed mp3 bouncing however it doesn't.

Soundcloud

 Soundcloud is an audio sharing platform, we used the website to share  audio files from audience feed back and also to upload evaluations. It also had private and embeddable links which we used heavily on our blogs.

Evaluation question 3 - Etienne

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

From showing our 3 products to our audience, we have received mostly positive and negative feedback but capitalised on the negatives to turn them into positives by adapting our final products to fit better.



MUSIC VIDEO:

From showing our audience our initial music video, we found out that they all followed our preferred reading. Our preferred reading was that the main character is a drug addict and uses the drugs as a form of escapism. His hallucinations are a physical manifestation of the things he's running away from and they always catch up him when he runs away but confronting the issues with violence causes them to return.


We also learnt from the audience that to them, the performance shots of the artist was very energetic and upbeat and so some of the audience suggested how the music video as a whole was like a representation of different sides of youth. How there are the positive and negative sides of colours young people our age usually experience. The performance would represent the positive and joyful side of youth since the music video, the artist is shown to be using the instruments as an escapism and becoming passionate enough to learn multiple and play them at once. Whilst the actor succumbs to his demons and lets them chase him.


Additionally received feedback that the music and visuals were working very well. Our audience agreed that the timing of the cuts between choruses and verses was well done and accurate whilst the lip sync was convincing enough.
in conclusion the audience had similar readings to us and even expanded on them more throughly. In the draft stages we had various different shots that didn't make sense so we had to re-record to make a better video and more linear and clear story line which is probably the most essential pat of the video.

MAGAZINE ADVERT:

Initially we had 4 different fonts and made a tally of ones audiences preferred then we made the poster with that in mind.
Our first attempt at our advert was met with many negative reviews and feedback as it didn't look at all professional. The audience recommended we redo it by putting the main character at the forefront and make the advert look more appealing, In our final magazine advert our audience really liked how well structured and eye-catching it was


We used the technique of using the contrasts to make things stand out individually with the black background and white text which audiences thought of as eye-catching, clear and had appealing aesthetic.






However we received some oppositional readings from the audience as well which was mostly concerned with the titles and the image which is linked with it. Some of the audience had question if the actor's moniker was "Spur" and thought that this was the actors album. They felt that the main image should have been an image of the artist instead of the actor since it was really the singer who's the artist and that the singer should be the main focus. It was understandable that the audience would read our magazine advert like this since most real magazine adverts would have the name of the artist with the artist as well as the main image but our magazine advert didn't conform to that. However most ended up preferring the actor as the main focus as it sets the tone for the album and reminds them of the video.




Overall I think it was the most important feedback and I've learnt that the magazine advert as well as the digipack should usually focus more on the artist rather than the actor since most real magazine adverts would do that and it wouldn't cause any oppositional readings. However most audiences know that there isn't a link to the actor and the artist as most indie bands around our area use pictures of different people for their covers so our generation is used to it.



DIGIPAK:





For our digipack the audience loved the dark and visceral colours mostly associated with destruction and anger as it fit very well into the theme of the music video. They also liked how it all fit together with the CD and the poster, yet they criticised the image of the actor on the front cover as most bands usually put the artist so they said it could be confusing however they agreed that overall the actor did have a more synergistic link. Initially our audience didn't like the original digipack, it looked amateurish and didn't fit at all with the themes of the other products. We used their feedback and managed to transform the digipack into something much more use able.

Evaluation question 2 - Etienne

How effective is your combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Our Media Products:
1) Music Video
2)Magazine Advert
3)Digipak

Our group was moderately successful when creating a synergistic link between all of our products. Initial prototypes were heavily reliant on audience feedback to get them to the standard that they currently are which meant having to re-create entire shots for it. we made sure to get a similar font and style and also use axels face as the synergistic link between the media products and the music video.
when we started making the posters people disliked our first draft as the font was too different and felt like it didnt have a synergistic link so we had to change it.

The photo show a mid shot of the protagonist in the music video doing a straight faced look to the camera with red and blue highlights on his face. The photo isnt a still from the video but the audiences would see his face and make the connection between the video and the products.

The text was also the same through out the entire product range to give it that recognisable and eye catching look that many bands have just from seeing the font.

Much like jessie J's album cover. This was the basis for our design as we use the actor as the biggest emphasis and the writing contrasted to a black background.

Most bands use the main musicians as thier main selling point however we decided against this as our actor was the most recognisable synergestic link. Much like Vampire Weekend's album cover which doesn't include the band.

real examples:

The killers used the same image for thier vinyls and adverts so its very clear to see that its thier band and gives them a wider audience as its eye-catching due to the contrasting colours of pink and blue. 

Evaluation question 1 - Etienne

Music Video: The track that we have chosen to use for our music video is called "Fire" by Spur. The genre of the song is alternative rock. "Alternative rock is a style of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s  Washington DC and became widely popular in the 1990s due to its diverse and more emotional lyricism".


Andrew Goodwin's features:
Conventions of rock genres

• live instruments

• lip syncing 

• set in studios 

• close ups

• liberal lifestyles

Our music video also has a narrative as well which allows us to have a simultaneous story to match the verses and also have the performance shots during the choruses. We decided on this option as the verses' wording was mostly ambiguous so it allowed us to tell a story that would be right in different ways depending on the interpretation. Furthermore the chorus was more upbeat so we used the shots to match the dynamics.










Having the set/playing in a studio is a very typical convention of an alternative rock band or even just a live performance. Below is an example from "blur" on the song "song 2".

Conventions of a Digipak:
1) The artist's name
2) An image/logo of the artist
3)A song list
4)An insert (Could perhaps be a booklet with info about the music, artist or a poster)

1) Demonstrates genre characteristics
Our video is easily identifiable in the rock genre as it has a quite stylistically unpolished look and shown with fast and rhythmic playing styles showing an element of aggression and freedom. it also has characteristics of a live performance with dynamics and follows the beat of the song.
Additionally, since there is a narrative in our music video, it's able to show how there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. We researched and discussed the meaning of the lyrics and we agreed how the lyrics was about someone having a strong love for something that too much of it can destroy the person themselves. We decided that protagonist would be a drug addict who takes drugs in order to make himself feel better. The drugs were used as a form of escapism however the person that kept following him was a personification of the trouble he was running away from yet he always run away from them instead of facing them head on. An example of how the lyrics and videos are linked is that part of the lyrics were "You could be the one to drown me out" which we implied meant that the person is totally in love with his own drugs that he wants the drugs to destroy himself. 

In Andrew Goodwin's theory on music videos, it suggested that a successful music video would contain these features. The features are:
Its very similar to Japandroids' near to the wild heart of life in that sense as its a rock band and has very similar conventions with a unpolished and gritty look.
Digipak:

2) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
3) A relationship between the music and the visuals
4) Close ups of the artist; used by the record label to market and advertise the artist
5) A reference to the notion of 'looking' or voyeuristic treatment of the female body 
6) Intertextual References (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.)

and also has scenes based off "reptillia" from the "strokes"

From looking at our cover you can clearly see the synergistic elements of the production. The colour palate of red and black to give it a more aggressive and edgier look. It both challenges and converges to typical conventions as it doesn't have the lead singer and instead the character from the narrative. However it converges to typical album covers as it has the band name is bold with the same font used on all digital media, the same colour scheme and track lists and barcodes.

Magazine AdvertConventions of a magazine advert:
- The artist's name
- An image of the artist
- The Album title
- reviews/ratings
- where to find the song

Similar to our digipack our magazine advert follows the colour scheme, font and has where to find the bands websites and the record label. its very similar to real  magazine adverts as it follows the same conventions. 

Evaluation - Question 4 (Axl Santos)

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

During the production stage, my group and I have used the Canon DSLR EOS 650D cameras to get footage for our music video and also to take images for two print products.

By using the camera I was given, it allowed me to take on the role as the cinematographer as well as the director. The camera allowed us to capture high quality images and film and also, I was able to explore the construction of each frame as we filmed. We experimented a lot with different angles to see what would be the best position to shoot a specific frame.

We were already familiar with the Canon DSLR cameras as we had used them before for our AS coursework during the making of the preliminary task and the thriller opening in year 12 so using the camera and knowing its functions was very easy. However One minor disadvantage that we faced was that the battery life was quite low. We had to carry a second battery in case our first one died however it didn't affect any of our footage since we already knew and planned what we were going to shoot so the battery life wasn't that big of a problem.

In terms of the pre-production and post production stages, my group and I have used a range of different websites and software when creating our music video and our two print products.

Blogger:

Blogger is an online blog website. I used blogger to post all the research and planning i did in leading to the making of the music video and the two print products. An advantage we had with blogger was that we were very familiar with this website as we used it last year for our AS coursework so we knew how to work it, how to make posts look a certain way and how to decorate our blog. Additionally, blogger allowed us to embed external pieces of work like videos, gifs prezis and audios. However, some of the disadvantages that we faced was that at times, there were some glitches with certain posts and it would ruin our whole blog by making some posts we created not appear so we had to delete them. 

Prezi:

Prezi is a website that we used to create a presentation for our 3 music video research. Prezi enabled us to create presentations in a more stylish and interactive way rather than microsoft powerpoint. The advantage of prezi was that work could be easily saved into an account so whenever I were to login to another device, I could still log in to my prezi account and load up work I saved in my account. Another advantage was that it was easy to embed prezi presentations on blogger by simply copying the prezi URL and pasting it on blogger as a HTML code, However some of the disadvantages I faced was that it sometimes takes a while for the presentation to load whenever you view it on the blog and so whenever I showed something, I would have to sometimes go on the actual website and show it from there.

iMac Computers:

The iMac computers were the computers that my group and I used to put all our footage and images in. An advantage of the iMac is that they were easily accessible as they were located in our classroom and also, we were familiar with these last year so we knew how to work them well. However one of the disadvantages was that whenever you saved work on a computer, it would literally saved it on the computer instead of the account. For example, if I saved work on one computer and I logged off and I logged in to another computer, the work I saved wouldn't be there. I would have to log in to the same computer i used before in order to access my work. 

Adobe Photoshop:

Adobe Photoshop is a photo editing software that we mostly used when creating our print products. The software was easy to use. It allowed us to edit image, add image, create titles and change colour and it also allowed us to move images and words around. It was a very useful software to edit image.

Youtube:

Youtube is a video sharing website that me and my group used for uploading and sharing videos. I used it a lot for uploading my preliminary task and thriller opening during year 12 and I used it this year for uploading our music video. One of the advantages of it was that since its public, we were able to recieve feedback from people we didn't know. Also it was easy to find our music video. It was by simply typing the youtube name we used for uploading the video "BallBoy57" and it could be located somewhere in the channel. However one of the disadvantages was uploading. Whenever a video which was said to be a big file was being uploaded, it would usually take quite a while.

Soundcloud:

 Soundcloud is an audio distribution platform that enables users to upload, record and share originally created sound. We used this mostly for turning feedback we recorded into audio so that we could upload it to blogger. The advantage of soundcloud was that it was easy to turn a video into audio by using soundcloud downloader and also, it was easy to embed soundcloud audio into blogger by copy and pasting the url as HTML code.

Final Cut Pro:

Final cut pro is the software that we used to edit our music video. We also used during the pre-production stage when we were creating our animatic. We were familiar with this software as we used it last year for the creation of our thriller opening so it was therefore easy to use. 

Green Screen scene. Background is a green screen.

Final cut pro was very useful because since we were going to do lip-syncing in our music video, final cut pro allowed to mute the diegetic sounds in the footage and instead only have the audio being heard. Additionally, we planned on having one scene where it required a green screen so with the green screen scene, we were able to edit it on final cut using chroma key and it was able to create the effects we wanted. 

Furthermore, it helped us solve some problems of bad acting since in one of the scenes where the protagonist runs upstairs, the protagonist breaks character and smiles a bit but with the special effects that were available on the software, we were able to hide the protagonist's smile and get away with him breaking character.

Special Effects hides the protagonist's face