Three Goblin Art
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oozey mess
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Cosimo Galluzzi
Peter Solarz
titsay
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Stranger Things
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Origami Around
tannertan36
$LAYYYTER
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roma★
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
noise dept.
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Not today Justin
DEAR READER
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@kateabbottmedia
Links to each stage
http://kateabbottmedia.tumblr.com/search/research
http://kateabbottmedia.tumblr.com/search/planning
http://kateabbottmedia.tumblr.com/search/production
http://kateabbottmedia.tumblr.com/search/evaluation
http://kateabbottmedia.tumblr.com/search/completedproduct
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?- Group evaluation.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?- Group evaluation
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
New media technologies have helped us to share, develop and create our A2 media work; from planning, research and construction to the evaluation stage.
CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH:
To get an idea of what we wanted our video to include, we sent out a survey via surveymonkey.com, as a form of audience research. This was really effective as we could send out a link to everyone through e-mail and also that we could retrieve the answers relatively quickly, as opposed to handing out surveys by hand. The surveys gave us an idea of what people did and didn’t like to see in music videos. For example, they over-whelming didn’t like the idea of titles in music videos and they much preferred the idea of combining performance and narrative within the video as opposed to having a solely performance or narrative based video.
As well as taking our target audience’s ideas on board, we also conducted our own research into music videos by using YouTube, I analysed a performance video (Bon Jovi-Livin’ On A Prayer), a narrative video (Gwen Stefani-Cool) and a combination of the two (Rihanna Feat. Mikky Ekko- Stay). My group consequently concluded that we felt a combination of narrative and performance would be the most effective type of music video to use. We also analysed the videos in terms of Goodwin’s theory of the conventions of music videos i.e. identifying a link between music and visuals or there being voyeuristic treatment of the female body. By researching this theory we chose the conventions we did or didn’t want to use in the construction of our music video.
We also filmed a ‘focus group’- where we asked our peers to review our initial ideas for our music video and they gave us constructive criticism as well as alternative ideas. We found this really insightful as the ideas they came up with, including incorporating elements of slow motion is something we hadn’t previously thought of prior to this audience research and is something we did use in the music video. Filming this also gave us a chance to get used to our new cameras as they were different to the ones we’d used at AS, we then imported this to Premiere Pro and then uploaded it to YouTube. All of the audience research we did, we embedded into Tumblr through HTML codes- meaning that the YouTube videos/ surveys were featured on our blogs.
Researching digipaks and promotional adverts for albums gave us a really clear idea of the conventions for them and is something we took into account when making our own. I used Adobe Photoshop to create both my digipak and advert. With a wide variety of tools available, it allowed me to be creative for example, I used black and white, grain and ‘mosaic tile’ effects which made the product look more interesting. The fact that Photoshop is so established meant that I could try and make my ancillary tasks to an industry standard.
To edit the video, we used Premiere Pro and after building up experience of the last two years, we felt more comfortable using it while editing. We imported all the footage, chose what we wanted, then edited it. We also added in some creative features e.g. we lowered the opacity of some shots so that shots faded in together, zoomed in on footage and also used slow motion. The hardest part was probably matching up the miming to the audio track yet the fact you could zoom in on the timeline made it easier to edit.
PLANNING:
To determine our song choice we again used YouTube, to find a genre of music that we liked as well as a song. Whilst we initially had a preference for a pop song, by watching videos in this planning stage, we concluded that pop may be too much of a mainstream genre and thought we’d need a less well know song. We then found Lorde –‘Royals’, of an electro pop genre, that had only just been released. We really liked this song as it had continuous ‘clicks’ throughout, which we thought would enable us to edit more creatively i.e. making cuts between shots when there was a ‘click’. We then contacted her record label to ask permission to use the track before we moved on to planning the video.
To plan the video, we analysed the lyrics of the song and decided that the song was based on a rejection of media messages, including that of a materialistic culture. We therefore wanted our actress to be relatable to the audience and so we chose an 18 year old actress to coincide with our 15-24 target audience. instead of being of ‘celebrity status’, we wanted to show our actress finding happiness in the simplest forms i.e. through dancing. This idea was reinforced in the planning stage after we looked at Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory and decided we wanted our video to have ‘personal identity’- with the audience looking for a model of behaviour that they could identify with as well as having their personal values reinforced. We also planned the target audience we wanted to appeal to- primarily female due to the female artist, aged 15-24 and with no specific identity.
As a result of the audience feedback, we could plan the type of clothing we wanted our actress to wear (indie) and the types of things she’d be doing in the video i.e. smoking, dancing. To plan what shots we needed to film, we developed the idea of a storyboard from AS and made an animatic on Premiere Pro by scanning in our sketches, this really helped us to visualise what we were going to film and also gave us an indication of how many shots we would need, before we started filming, as we put the visuals over the track. When it came to editing the music video, we numbered the shots so it made it easier to find the ones we wanted, this type of pre-planning really helped us.
To ensure we were prepared when it came to filming we created a shooting schedule as well as lists of the equipment, people and locations needed and then uploaded them to Tumblr, so everything was in one place. By updating our progress with planning on Tumblr, we could embed our planning documents such as pictures of digipak research to demonstrate where we were getting ideas from.
EVALUATION:
For the evaluations, I was given various questions regarding my A2 work. The first of which being: 'How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?'- for this question I reflected on the previous research I'd done on existing products and how they combined elements with each other i.e. Rihanna's promotional campaign for her album 'Rated R'. I then analysed how my digipak and advertisement linked with the music video my group had created. I felt this type of evaluation allowed to think about how each of my products complemented and reinforced each other i.e. using the same imagery promoted branding etc. For this evaluation question I used prezi, as I feel it's a creative way to present ideas, whilst being able to include pictures and videos also, I then embedded it into my blog.
The second question was 'What have you learned from your audience feedback?'- for this, as a group we made a presentation. Before doing so we conducted another focus group, as we felt this was a really effective way of establishing our target audience's opinions in the research and planning stage. We also then put our video on both Twitter and Facebook, in order to get a broader range of feedback. We felt the best way to present all of the feedback we got was to put them into a PowerPoint presentation, so that everything was in one place and we could add our own comments to explain what we had learned as a result of said feedback. The PowerPoint was then saved as a video to provide a more creative, visual aspect to the evaluation.
Lastly, the final question was 'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?'- for this we recorded a directors' commentary, as we believed this was the most effective way to explain our choices in relation to the conventions. By doing this we could also incorporate elements of our video so that there was a visual representation of the shots we were referring to.
This is my magazine advert to promote my artist's album. After researching digipaks, I found that reviews/ratings, the record label logo, the album title and the use of the same/ a similar image to the album cover were almost always featured and so I incorporated these aspects.
The mention of the fact that an album was a debut album, if it was, was also frequently highlighted, I included this in my advertisement as I felt like this would attract a wider audience, with people being drawn to hear new styles of music and/or discovering a new artist.
Another convention I found was the mention of tour dates- often with 'SOLD OUT' written across a selection of dates; I decided not to use this aspect however, as I felt the advert would be too overcrowded and I wanted to achieve a simplistic feel- channeling that of the digipak and music video. The fact it is black and white, with a flash of colour of the star ratings, I felt would grab the attention of magazine readers as they were looking through a magazine, otherwise full of colour.
Photo one: This is my completed digipak. On the front cover is a close up image of the artist, a conventional feature of most digipaks that don't have animated covers.
Whilst researching ideas, I came across the Arctic Monkey's album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'. I used the front cover (see picture two), as inspiration for my digipak. I really liked the idea of having an unconventional feature such as a long album title and not including the title on the front of the digipak, like the Arctic Monkey's did, as I thought it was a unique way of advertising- with solely the artist's music, image and name selling the product.
I also used a similar image of our artist on the cover, although with the difference of using a female artist and no cigarette. I felt the use of black and white was really effective for the Arctic Monkey's album, from a marketing perspective, as it would be eye catching due to most covers being in colour and so added this element in (and subsequently made the rest of the digipak black and white so the design was consistent). I then featured the artist's name and the album title on the binder of the album, to reflect the conventional approach.
For the inside of the digipak, I incorporated an element of our video- an image we'd taken whilst filming at the graffiti location. I felt the use of this image would appeal to our target audience (15-24). For the CD tray, I created a collage of the artist and various locations as a means of establishing an artist-audience relationship, with the audience feeling as if they'd had an insight into the things important to the artist. The whole collage would be seen once the CD is removed (see picture 3).
I decided to make the CD itself pink, as a feminine touch due to the fact we had decided our target audience would be largely female due to women being able to relate to the artist more. However, I didn't want to dissuade male audiences from buying the product and so I added this as a hidden element. I stuck to the traditional method of including the album title, artist's name, record label logo and legal information on the CD.
I followed the conventional features of the back covers of digipaks, by using one main image and then adding a barcode, record company/copyright information, the record company logo and then added the song titles.
Our video is now finished and has been uploaded to YouTube, we're really happy with the final result.
Editing Update
We are really close to finishing the final edit of our music video. We went into school over the holidays to ensure we could finish the edit in good time, with time left over to neaten up any bits we were unhappy with.
Overall we're really happy with how the video is coming along, although once exported from Premiere Pro the footage and miming appeared to be out of time. Matching up the miming and audio track is something we've found quite difficult throughout the editing process and we hope to tweak these sections so they look as good as we want them to in the final edit of the video.
Throughout the editing process, we have filmed more shots and edited those in, we feel this has given us higher quality footage. These shots weren't something we'd planned and weren't on the storyboard, as whilst filming we'd think of more creative shots we could do. They have proven really useful in filling in gaps or replacing footage that didn't look as effective as we hoped.
We feel the narrative of our video is conveyed well and we are happy with the balance of performance and narrative in the video, as our target audience informed us that they wanted to see more narrative than performance.
This is another small piece of our production, demonstrating the editing process.
We are happy how the shots are coming together so far , however it is clear that a few adjustments need to be made. There are a couple of shots that need to be moved around so the video flows more naturally, also certain edits between cuts need to be more precise. As this is a work in progress there are a few missing shots that will break up the conceptual and performance clips a bit more.
Overall the footage is coming together nicely but more editing needs to be done to neaten up the piece.
-- The editing process has been going well, as Ellie said, we need to work on the cuts to ensure they're in time with the audio track and we want to achieve more balance between the amount of performance and narrative elements. We see this as important as when filming our focus group and collecting our survey results, we established our audience would prefer to have a combination of performance and narrative, but were more interested in seeing the narrative elements being more dominant.
There are some shots that we weren't happy with (i.e. the shot beginning at 0.28 with our actress walking up the road- the camera is shaky and the shot isn't as good as we hoped it to be) so we have re-shot them and are really pleased with the results. We are now going to edit these shots and include them in the video, making a neater, higher quality video overall.
Filming update
We have now filmed our artist miming to the song. Originally, we thought it would look really good if we filmed her miming in different locations but after trying to get the miming from the first location we filmed to match up to the audio track in the editing process, we have decided against this idea. This is because it has been quite hard to match the two up and so by sticking to using the footage from solely the first location, we think the video will look more professional. We have now imported this footage into Premiere Pro with the other footage and are in the process of completing the edit of the beginning section of our video.
Filming Update
We've had a few really productive days of filming so far, the storyboard has proved really useful in helping us know which shots are needed and when. Therefore, we can film all the shots required in a certain location to get all the shots needed so we don't have to re-film elements, aiding the continuity of our video as each shot will have the same natural lighting due to it being filmed on the same day. We have made slight adjustments to some of the shots we planned to film, due to them not looking as effective as we wanted them to. This extra footage may also come in handy for the editing process, by filling in gaps etc.
We still have to film our artist, who will mime the performance elements of the song. We have done some practice shots of her miming so when it comes to doing the real thing, we will be more prepared and will hopefully achieve a take that will almost perfectly match up to that of the audio track.
Here are some stills of our group filming.
Research into the music industry.
How are music videos made?
- There are three stages to a music video- planning, production and post-production.
The planning may consist of talking to the artist(s)/record label/management about potential ideas and then constructing a storyboard and planning the video shoot. In addition to this, scouting for locations will be essential as well as for actors and dancers, if required. It will also be important to determine which techniques will be used in the video i.e. animation, narrative/non-narrative approaches etc. ( or a combination of these techniques) before moving into the production stage.
In terms of production, after the location or locations have been chosen, the artist(s) and/or actors will often be on set along with chosen props, costume (including hair and make up), lighting and potentially a green screen. However what is used in the production of a music video is dependent on the style of the video (narrative, abstract, performance or a combination). The artist and actors will then get in sync with the scratch audio track (not the official track) in order to mime or act along with the music. Within the video shoot process, many takes will be shot, at various angles to provide the best selection when editing.
In the post-production stage, all the footage from the video shoot will be imported onto editing software. This enables all the takes to be sorted, finding the best shots, from multiple locations (if there are)to then be edited together. After this stage, slow motion/ fast motion and other effects can be added, if required. The music track will then be laid over the footage and so it can be determined whether the edits and the music are in sync, with minor adjustments being made if they aren't. Titles and credits can then be added to the video if so desired.
Who are the main companies which show videos?
- In terms of television: MTV is probably the biggest and best known music video channel; playing and broadcasting videos to large audiences. As well as MTV, there are many other TV channels that show music videos, with 4Music and VIVA probably being the most recognised on a UK scale.
-In terms of online: Vevo is the biggest video hosting service, having their own website as well as the platform of YouTube.
Where can you find music videos?
- Online and on TV (main providers are mentioned above).
What are the purpose of music videos?
- Music videos on the whole are primarily there to entertain and/or tell a story, to ultimately sell the song. However, it is becoming more and more the case that videos are being made to attract media attention and publicity, through 'shock factor' i.e. Miley Cyrus' video for 'Wrecking Ball'; 'Wrecking Ball' reached number one in both the US and the UK, which only goes to show how these tactics can result in a growth of popularity and sales.
Storyboards
Full Storyboard G324 Music Video
This is the storyboard we initially sketched in order to construct our animatic.
Equipment and Prop List
HD Camera
Actresses
Tripod
Lighter/Tobacco
Coin
Pile of clothes
Bin
Magazines
Ballet Costume
Everyday Clothes Costume
Toothbrush
-- These are the props and equipment we expect to need whilst shooting our music video.
General conventions of electro-pop music videos.
Whereas with pop videos they frequently contain lip syncing, are routine based and/or feature a narrative reflecting the lyrics of the song- often focused relationships; the conventions of electro-pop videos seem to be less apparent, apart from the artist being the main focus of the video and often singing into the camera.
I found during my research that the beats of electro-pop songs are often reflected in the editing cuts and pacing, an idea we plan to use in our video- with cuts being made to the sound of a 'click' that features throughout our song. Dance routines were also relatively common, something we are also going to feature in our video. Yet I found there was loose, if any, reference to the lyrics. Therefore, we have decided that due to wanting to communicate a message to our audience through our video, we're going to incorporate the conventional elements from solely pop videos such as a relationship between the lyrics and the performance so the audience can relate more to our video.
Similarly, when looking at La Roux and Little Boots' videos (two electro-pop artists); I discovered that their videos were often quite extravagant and set in exotic locations i.e. La Roux's video for 'Quicksand' is set on a beach and in Little Boots' video for 'Remedy' there were kaleidoscope effects throughout. Although again, we feel if we have a more simple, relatable location such as a city centre, the audience could relate more, we like the original ideas that often featured in electro-pop videos. For example, the performances seemed to engage the audience more and were less voyeuristic and more artistic; an idea we are keen to follow seeing as our video features both a female artist and female actress, who we wanted to represent realistically.