Blog 20 – Evaluation and Feedback of the video

When we began our media project, we had to do research to make sure that our digipack, advert and video would aim at their correct target audience. We used the sites such as youtube to find existing music videos, to analyse and look at for inspiration. We also used the internet to do research into existing digipak's and magazine adverts.

Throughout this project I have had to use and learn how to use new equipment. Equipment we have used includes: a camera, tripod,tape and computer software such as the editing programme final cut pro on an apple mac computer.

We uploaded our audio track onto the computer and then put it all together using final cut pro.

When we first set out to create a music video we knew we wanted it to look as professional as possible. Therefore getting feedback from a similar target audience throughout the project helped us to see what was working and what was not. So we decided to upload our images onto social networking site face book to see what people thought of our work. Here is a print screen of some of the feedback I received.

Usually with products like this for example often in the music industry artists carry out a particular style throughout their products for promotional purposes. This could include styles, fonts, logo's or images. I have tried to do this also within my entire project for example I have used a simplistic theme throughout my promotional pack including the basic colours keeping mostly to a black and yellow theme, I have used simple fonts styles and a light starry pattern.

One thing that is very common for all bands and artists to do when making themselves identifiable is how the font for their band name is displayed. I have done this with my promotional back for the same reasons artists do, so they will be immediately identifiable to their fans.

I think the fonts I chose worked well as they were kept subtle and simplistic but very similar throughout the project.

In the music video we wanted to start it with some good engaging shots to attract the audience, We started it with a slow zoom and leaves the audience want to see the rest of the surroundings. As the video is very slow paced we wanted something that would fit in with the look we were going for but at the same time keep the audience wanting to watch.

Over all taking everything into account including the new skills I have learnt I think it has all come together well to create the three sections of my coursework. I have gained skills in camera use, editing, directing, computer programme skills such as photo shop and final cut pro and also learnt a lot of what to do and what not to do when creating a promotional pack.

Blog 19 – Finished Video

Here is a link to my final finished music video.

Blog 18 – Creative camera use

As our entire was kept very simple to maintain our simplistic theme. There was not many special affects or interesting techniques used. However within the video we used zooms which really worked well in emphasizing the narrative of the story. I have not be able to up load this to my blog but in my last blog where the final video is uploaded you can see the use of zoom withing the first 10 seconds of the video.

Blog 17 – Rejected Footage

When editing the footage we found many clips we could not use for various reasons here are a few examples:

We could not use this shot in our final video as the general public were walking in and out of shot. Although people may not have been such a problem in the distance they were in the same place as our actors and this did not give the right feel we were aiming for. There for we waited for the people to go and re shot this part a few times.

This was the next shot we came across during the editing process that we could not use. As the actor was listening to the song whilst we were filming so we could have the video and singing at the same time. However here we can see how it can go wrong as the actor could not get the music playing in time for the filming to start.

This is a shot of the actor when she is supposed to be walking across the bridge looking quite upset thinking about her past. However she started laughing through filming this gave the complete opposite affect we were aiming to show therefore we could not use this shot in our video.

This another shot we came across which we found was not suitable to use for our video. We were trying to achieve the look of the couple fumbling around and having fun together however it turned out it looked more aggressive and do not present the right look for the theme of our video. Also as you can see the main actor within the video is hardly seen in this shot which does not give the emphasised look of the couple being in love as well as planned.

Blog 16 – Advert

Adverts are used to attract an audience to a product. Adverts are there to increase sales and promote in this case the artist and the albulm.

Before creating my advert I looked at other adverts already made within the same or a similar genre to get an idea on what my advert will look like. Here is some examples of adverts I analysed:

The first advert I looked at was for Katy Perry's Album One of the boys. It includes information such as the name of the album, the release date of the album, it also mentions how the album includes

a smash hit number one. Another factor the advert includes is a

n image of the actual album I think this is a good idea as it allows the audience to see exactly what the album looks like and avoids a

ny confusion. I like the layout of this advert and the use of image. There is one image across the whole of the page , it is quite a colourful image so a bright colour is used for the main piece of text so the audience has no problems reading the ad. Over all I think with the use of image and text the advert creates a look that engages people to read more information on the poster.

The next advert I looked at was Lady Gaga's 'The fame monster' the advert is very similar to the actual album cover this is so the audience straight away recognise who it is also the artist name and the title of the album are in a large font in the centre of the page so that you instantly know what the advert is about. At the bottom of the advert is information of the songs in the album and a visual image of the actual CD itself. The advert is all black and white which is the same as the album it is advertising. This creates a link between the album and advert so the audience automatically connect the two.

My Advert Flat Plans

I created three different flan plan ideas before creating my advert I did this to experiment with different ideas to see what I liked after looking at other advert designs. I think looking at these original adverts I got a good idea on what works well for an album advert.

Flat Plan 1

This is myfirst flat plan design. Within this plan I included One centre image of my artist, I did this so the advert would instantly draw the eyes of the reader to the artists face. However after looking at other designs I found I did

not like this idea. I put the name of the artist at the top of the page however I did not include the artists surname I did not like this idea either as it could be misleading to the customers.

I Put the title of the album at the bottom of the page in large bold lettering. Other text on the page reads 'out now' although it includes the writing I just mentioned I do not feel this advert would be successful as it is not clear what the product is due to lack of information or imagery.

Flat Plan 2

This is my second flat plan for my advert. For this one I had an image spread across the whole page which includes a long shot of the artist. I think this works well as it draws in the audience to look in

more detail at the advert. This time I used a more simple styled font keeping the ad to a minimal look. I had the main text at the top right of the page including the artists name and the name of the album. Although again my advert does not include much writing I think this one would be more successful as it includes things such as magazine reviews stating 'best new album' so I think that gives a clear idea to the audience what the poster is advertising.

Flat Plan 3

Here is my final flat plan. Like the second one I used one main image across the whole page. However this is a close up shot and I think with the pose the artist is pulling it draws a lot of attention to look at the poster and for this reason again like the second ad I kept the text very simple with the title of both artist and album at the top right of the page. I did not include much information on this poster either other than 'new and exclusive'. I had a simple starry pattern around the image. Again I went for a simplistic look keeping to the overall theme I have had throughout this project.

My Completed advert.

Here is my final advert design. I kept to the same colour scheme as I have done throughout my project using yellows and black. I did this to create a strong link between the advert, video and digipack so the audience can easily recognise the products. Again for my advert I wanted to carry on the simplistic look so used quite a plain looking text. I got the text from dafont.com and like I mentioned earlier using the snipping tool. On my advert I ended up using more text information than planned on all 3 of my digipacks I decided to do this because I felt the other 3 could have been quite misleading and not clearly stated what the product was.

I included legal things such as production company information. Also I included magazine reviews, basic information and a website linking to the star. Over all I feel my advert could be improve but does clearly show the message that is trying to shown.

I created a group on Facebook to get feedback on what a general audience thought of my advert here is a print screen of what I found.

Blog 15 – Digipack

There are three creative elements to my coursework: the video, the digipack and my advert.

All three will consists with the same theme and come together as a whole to represent my artist.

Two examples of Digipaks from the same 'pop' genre as Ellie Goulding are those below that are from Girls Aloud and Madonna.

(Here is a link to the Madonna Digipack as my blog only seemed to allow a certain amount of images.)http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmrOksI49J_qVNJwmWjRi7S3WyvpbspyOQe1FrVqbfz-PZKzauPmlyKsSNFSu0MHN2piW1UNRGcgOjt8FHilee25qgDYnFxVeQp6cb2JtbPziCfFbWx92kqIrl8H94dPcLtXgV4E4I0o/s1600/MadonnaMusic.jpg&imgrefurl=http://jennylovegrovemedia.blogspot.com/&usg=__AL7Gk_aEEwGNVn22i1d_kr_qf4U=&h=800&w=1219&sz=231&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=LKX8VUbhayb8NM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=214&ei=YZKgTd_YBIy3hAfb8NH6BA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmadonna%2Bdigipack%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D624%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=678&vpy=338&dur=78&hovh=182&hovw=277&tx=192&ty=153&oei=YZKgTd_YBIy3hAfb8NH6BA&page=1&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0

The Madonna digipack includes a lot of colour and has a distinct theme of cow

boys. The text carries on the theme along with images of related props such as a cowboy hat and hay in the background. The front of the digipack includes an images of the artist and text saying 'Madonna-music'.On the spine of the digipak information includes again title and artist, as well as the DVD Video logo which tells the audience which format the disc is. The reverse of the digipak contains necessary information that is legally required such as barcode, copyright info

rmation and logos of companies involved in the making of the DVD. It is important al

l this information is here in order for the DVDs to sell correctly.

The second digipack I looked at was girls aloud's. You can see there is perhaps not particuly a theme but a bold colour scheme of black and purple. This will target to the main audience as purple is steryotyped as a feminine colour and the main target audience for girls aloud is women.The font is kept the same all over the digipack this gives it a simple look. You can see a large image of the band on the front of the digipack with microphones this shows they are perfoming. Information over the digipack include and track list, legal copyright and production information and also extras the digipack includeds. This is all included to make sure the DVD sels correctly.

My Digipack Designs

I created three flatplans for my digipack. I did this with things I have leart by looking at previous digipack designs and researching my artist.

I have a simular theme throughout all my digipack designs. I have done this becuase Ellie Goulding seems to have a particular style and to aim at my target audience I wanted this on going theme to remain. The name of my digipack is 'flashing lights'. I chose Flashing Lights to be the name of my album as Ellie's previous albums are called 'Lights' and 'Bright Lights'.

Digipack 1

With my first flat plan I put the title at the top

and a close up shot centre of the front p

age. All of my flats plans include more than one image. This one has a

large image on the frontpage and a number of images on the back. I have put the track list on the left of the back page. I went for a different look when creating this flat plan to se what it looks like. However in the end i did not like it as the swirly pattern did not fit in

with the whole theme i have gone for throughout this project.

Digipack 2

Like the first digipack design I did, I used a mid shot in the centre of the page for my main image. This ended up being the only image I us

ed on this design. I experimented with different fonts. I liked the look of this font however i did n

ot use it as i felt it did not fit in with the simplistic look i was going for.

Digipack 3

This is my final flat plan design. Unlike the others where I used one image on the front for this I used three smaller imag

es so you could see in more detail what what included within the digipack. I used a similar text to my second design but did not include the artist surname I did not like this idea as I felt it may confuse the audience and it may not be clear to see what the product is. The back cover is kept simple with the track list centre aligned with just the basic information and a simple starry pattern.

Overall when it came to to making my actual digipack I did not stick to one of my flat plans designs but however I used of combination of all 3. I liked where I placed the title on

the first flat plan which was at the top of the page. I also chose to have one big main pic

ture like I did on the first two designs. On the back cover I have a picture spread across the page which I didn't use on any of my flat plans, however like my first flat plan I have the track list left aligned and just include the basic information.

My final Digipack designs

Evaluation

These are images of my final product. I had a colour theme of yellow and black

and light colours throughout my project. I did this so they all link up and the audience recognise this.

I included all the basic things a legal digipack should have for example the bar code, copyright information and production information. I put the title on the front cover and spine so it is easily recognisable and the product is not misleading to anyone.

I kept the inside of the digipack simple using a picture we took during the filming process. I used this picture to keep the theme linking throughout the product. I included titles of some of the songs included on the inside page this is to make it look a bit more interesting but still keeping to the simplistic look I was aiming for.

I have learnt many new skills throughout this project, including on and off the computer. I have looked at many different digipacks to get an idea of how I wanted my to look and I think I have gained skills in deciding what works and what doesn't. When it comes to working on the computer for my actual digipack I have learnt a lot. I gained many new skills in the programme photo shop. And we could not download fonts now so I gained a new skill called snipping which then lead me to have a wider experience on photo shop including using the magic wand and eraser tools.

Feedback

To get feedback on what a general audience think of my digipack I created a facebook page and asked people to comment on what they liked and disliked about it. Here is what I found:

Blog 14 – Shooting Diaries

Shooting Diary

March 16th 2011

The first bit of filming we did included just shooting the main character. As our video included stories of two different days we decided to film there on completly seperate days others wise things like the weather and lighting may have caused some confusion so by doing this it clearly states a new story withing the video. It was very cold and windy so we did find it quite difficult to film.

March 23rd 2011

A week later we decided the do the next part of our filming which this time included two characters the main female who was in the first section of our filming and now the male character who is a lead in the second narrative of our video.

We took a variety of shots, including some of the scenery. I think we got some very good shots this time.

Blog 13 – Shooting Schedule

To make sure everyone knew what they were doing throughout the filming process a shooting schedule was made.
We all had copy's of the shooting schedule so everyone including actors had a copy of this so there was no problems and everyone knew what they were doing at all times.

Blog 12 – Health and Safety

It is important to ensure that when filming on set that are cast and crew members are safe and that no one is being put at risk during shooting. As we chose an outdoor set for most of our filming it was important to inform the cast of the weather conditions and the environment they would be in to make sure that everyone had correct clothing and footwear.

As we were filming by a river we had to take extra safety precautions to ensure no one was in any danger of falling in the river.

Whenever we borrowed a camera from college we had to fill out risk forms.

We also made sure at all times during filming equipment was stored away from people to avoid any possiblitlys of our crew or members of the public hurting themselves, we also did this to ensure the eqipment was safe at all times.

Blog 11 – Storyboard and Animatic

A story board is such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence pre visiulised in the order they are going to be seen. It should contain notes of the action sound camera movements and shot type. It is needed for planning the filming and on location of shooting the video so the actors, directors and camera operators all know exactly what they have to do.

For the animatic we started by taking a still shot of every picture from our storyboard on a video camera. We then transferred the pictures onto the computer and placed them in a folder called animatic which could be opened on final cut pro.

Once we did that we were able to edit and cut shots and scenes in order to create a video that is time with the song being used. This was very useful as it gave us expirience on the softwear, helped us to spot problems we may have and also we got to see what we liked and disliked about the video.

Blog 10 - Mise en Scene

The mise en scene is evrything you will see it in the video. This includes Props, Costume, lighting, background and location.

The first thing I am going to talk about is the location. We have chosen to film our video in Alfriston (east sussex) and that will be the only location for the video. Our location is mainly countryside which includes a bridge a river and a church making it a very scenic location. The countryside feel to the video is very simular to Ellie Goulding past videos inluding the video I lookeD at earlier 'Your song'. We will be filming outside the whole time and always in the daylight. We went to the location and took some pictures to see if it had the right feel and would fit in with the theme we had decided on. Finaly we decided it was the right location and fits in well with the idea of a lonely walk. There was one limitation that could have prevented us filming which was the weather and we were always filming outside so relied on this nice weather.

Here are some images of our location.

Within our video we tryed not to use props to create the minimal feel we were aiming for. One prop we did use was a mobile phone.

For the characters and costume again we kept them very simple. We had the main character wearing two different outfits overall and we kept them very plain with a simple t shirt and jeans this is to keep to the feel we have througout the video. However we have kept the clothes modern and in trend this is to relate to our target audience of younger females.

Blog 9 - Pitch

Here is our pitch. In this we will talk about the artist audience and genre and the key ideas for our music video.

Blog 8 - Initial Ideas

We had many different idea's to begin with. The Song is about being alone and missing someone but the whole album shows an overall image of being in another place and not having any cares or worries.

Blog 7 - Copying an existing video

At college along with my class we re-created our own take on some of the video for Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus. The first thing we did was learn how to use the cameras and equipment. . We then learned the about story boarding and how important they are when creating a video of any sort. It is important so we know what shot is meant to go where and exactly what is happening in that shot to make it easier for filming and editing. As we were doing this as a class we all took turns in trying out different things this helped a lot when it came to filming our actual video.

Blog 6 - Video Analysis

Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed The song Starry Eyed is song wrote to reach out to everybody from every sort sort of background and enjoyment. The song manages to be folky, poppy and dancey all at the same time. The video for Starry Eyed shows Ellie Goulding in various costumes and settings of the venue as well as two acrobatic backup dancers dressed in fringe leotards. The video uses a visual styling effect used generally in sporting analysis called StroMotion which created the unique look of Ellie and the dancer's echoes, reverses and reverberations as they dance to the beat of the song. There is no particula plot or story to the video and in the artists words it's about letting go. As opposed to all the sad and depressing things I write about, I decided to write something about the joining together of people in some kind of euphoric state—be it at a festival, at a show or in a club. This shows us the video does link the song as you just see you artist is some sort of euphoric state, having fun and letting go.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=starry+eyed+ellie+goulding&docid=412236252317&mid=17888FC0673B33EA615C17888FC0673B33EA615C&FORM=VIRE7#

The next video I am analysing is Ellie Goulding- Your song. The Video for you song is very different to Starry Eyed. Your song a cover from the orginal by Elton John is a slow song with a more specific meaning possibly targeted at a smaller audience than Starry Eyed. Your Song is a mix of both folk and jazz with lyrics expressing more meaning of romantic thoughts. Shot in a Super 8 style with a home video look, it depicts Ellie's life on the road with friends. Areas from Goulding's hometown of Hereford can be seen throughout the video including Hereford railway station. The video includes shots of her out in the country and everyday places such as at home or in the forest. The costume is also 'evryday clothes with a scarf and jumper making her look no different to the 'every day' person. This look appeals to the audince as they feel they can really relate to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9AFMVMl9qE

Blog 5 - Target Audeince Of Artist/Band

It is really important to recognise who your target audience are when you make a music video. To get a good idea of the target audience for the artist we have chosen, I looked at social network sites and fan pages. Here is a print screen of a small selection of fans and from this you can see it is mostly female.

I did surveys which showed a varied target audience however the main target are teenagers especially females aged 14-20. I then looked to see what magazines Ellie Goulding had featured in the only one I could find where she has appeared on the cover was Company magazine.

Another way I could find out about her target audience was to look at the national readership survey. I looked at a screen shot of womens magazine comapny. Looking at this we can see of the type of people reading this magazine are females aged between 15 and 44, which shows me the main audience of Ellie Goulding, would be similar.

Blog 4 - Permission

This is the email I sent to the record label asking for there permission to use the song in our music video.
Copyright law is important to the music industry because it prevents people from stealing someone elses work and passing it off as their own which would result in loss of profit for the artist and record label

Blog 3 - Song Choice

We have chosen to use the song The End by Ellie Goulding in our music video. We chose to use this song because we are both fans of the artist and her music. We are also very familiar with the song which will help us create a video that appeals to other fans.


The End - Ellie Goulding - Lyrics:

We've only ever kissed lying down
We've only ever touched
When there's no one else around
I can be elusive if you want me to
I'm not being intrusive
I just wish I knew the truth

As to why
I wait for you
Longer than the average person would
And why
I think about you
More than I think one should

Our body's fit together like a makeshift puzzle
And It's clear to see why you puzzle me
when you turn your frame
And you whisper my name
As though I am a burden

And I'm making up for last time
And I'm making up for you
And I'm waking up from last night
And I'm waking up with you
So what's new
So what's new
So what's new

I am at your house
So I belong to you for now
Trying to impress you
But lord I don't know how
I can be a statue if you want me to
I'm not being difficult I just need to know the truth

As to why
I'm wanting you
And I would take you away if I could
And why I'm still here
It's something I still haven't understood

Our hands press together like pieces of paper
But they're always blank when I hold your hand
And it gave you a fright
When I stayed the night
Cus you gave yourself to me

Cus I'm making up for last time
And I'm making up for you
And I'm waking up from last night
And I'm waking up with you
So what's new
So what's new
So what's new
So what's new

Our hands press together like pieces of paper
But they're always blank when I hold your hand
And it gave you a fright
When I stayed the night
Cus you gave yourself to me

Cus I'm making up for last time
And I'm making up for you
And I'm waking up from last night
And I'm waking up with you
So what's new
So what's new

It's not the end
It's not the end
So don't let's pretend

Cus I'm making up for last time
And I'm making up for you
And I'm waking up from last night
And I'm waking up with you
So what's new
So what's new
So what's new

Blog 2 - Exploring Music Video

As part of the research before creating the media it is important to analyse other music videos of different genres.
The video for Micheal Jackson Thriller is not narrated as such by the lyrics but more by the theme. The video could be described as a short film as it is over 13 minutes long and has acting before and after the song. The video has a spoof horror genre and can slightly show the comedy behind irrational fears. The video is aimed at a wide audience excluding young children though as it may be too scary for them. The representation of gender is stereotypical throughout as it is the female how has the scary encounters and screaming whereas the male at the beginning laughs them off and appears protective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_MuUcxHATo&ob=av2e

The music video for The Spice Girls 'Wannabe' Is quite a simple video. It mainly consists of the 5 girls just running around a big building. It is aimed at teenage girls you can tell this because they are dressed in clothes that would be fashionable in that era. Also they are running around laughing and playing which shows us a laid back attitude. This video represents a fun atmosphere and makes people want to watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ&ob=av2e

The Music Video for Eminem ft. DiDo - Stan, has a clear narrative throughout the rap song. The Video is very serious and is about an obsessive fan. The tone of the video is very tense throughout as the audience are waiting for something to cause the character Stan to snap and this eery and tense atmosphere is portrayed in details such as the low key lighting. The ending of the video involves Stan killing himself and his pregnant girlfriend. This makes the video and song very emotional for the audience and has the desired effect of drawing them in as they want to see how the story unfolds. This represents the serious and meaningful nature of the lyrics and would not be aimed at a young audience, possibly 17-18+.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLZFdqwh7E&ob=av2e


The song's theme and lyrics are , telling the tale of a soldier whose body is severely damaged by a landmine.. It has a serious and clear narrative within the song. Like Eminems 'Stan' it gives quite an emotional feel to the audience. It again it makes them want to watch to see how the story unfolds. And again like 'Stan' this would not be aimed at a younger audience. The video represents a sense of anger as the story is shown of how the boy id trapped in his own body.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzgGTTtR0kc

Blog 1 - Introduction

The coursework is 50% of marks, 25% of marks for the whole A level. The coursework is based around a group production of an original music video. The project includes showing your understanding of the form, its conventions, styles and the originality that is shown. As I did in the AS I will have to produce documentation in which I will be analysing existing videos and evaluating my work in the context of professional examples. The music video will make up to 75% of my marks. The final exam consists of two sections. Section A I will have to write about my coursework- reflecting on the skills you've shown and applying media concepts to it. Section B will be about an issue in representation and identity. This task will show a development of skills from my AS coursework task as I will be doing a something similar but more with more advanced skills being shown.
At the bottom of this blog is a link to my previous blog.
http://sdcmediaaslucyjoy.blogspot.com/