MEDIA production take 1: 2011

Thursday, 12 May 2011

Prezi Evaluation link

http://prezi.com/ihhvnbprqq0h/a2-media-project-evaluation/

Follow the link ^^^

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Evaluation

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

My media product used forms and conventions of others in the way that I analysed other music videos in the 'indie' genre to see what the typical on would be like, I found that most of the videos, if not all, were totally different and it seemed that anything put into a video would be seen as acceptable, this might be because the 'indie' genre is so broad and that songs can be totally different but still fall under the same category. The major similarity I did manage to see in these videos was that quite a few had some sort of lip syncing in it, I opted not to involve this in my music video as I found no place for it within the production, the action within the video was too fast paced and I had to fit a lot more in. When looking at the original video for 'Let's go surfing' by The Drums I thought the video was far too plain and simple for such a fantastic song, the original video involved all the members running towards a backwards moving camera as it filmed them jogging, singing and performing all in one shot. I saw a story behind the lyrics and devised a vision for my own take of the perfect music video to accompany the song. I believed it was a quirky and fun song to listen to, and when you watch the video constructed you will see that I have matched the pace of what's going on in the song as best as possible to what is going on in the music video. For example in some parts of the production you see that I have edited scenes to make them faster, this was done to give the viewer the sense of excitement and anticipation of what the character was to do next, from thieving a scooter from a child to auto mobile theft. Throughout the whole video the main character is always on the move rarely seen to be still, I wanted to do this to keep a consistency in the music video to keep the viewer interested, one great example I can use to compare my project to is the music video for OK GO – here it goes again, this was a very simple video but had intricate aspects within it which is a lot like mine as they were very creative with the resources they had and I believe so was I, it is also very fast paced and the band members are constantly on the move within the video to mimic this pace. The difference between that video and mine is that theirs is a performance based video with them lip syncing throughout and mine is a narrative based video in where I am trying to tell you the story within the video and song title 'Let's go surfing'.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary task?

I believe that the ancillary task was a great opportunity to really advertise the singer in my product. It also allowed me to really give the performer in the video a character and personality through the digipak and magazine adverts, I wanted both to be visually stimulating for the audience and in order for that to happen I had to make them very colourful and unique. On the front CD case it showcases the performer in front of a fantastic sunshine and scenery, I edited these colours to make them more vibrant but not so much that it took any attention away from the actual performer. I wanted this whole CD case digipak to be about the performer, when looking at the inside of the case you can see that the inside of the front side is the performers eye and the disk side is his open mouth. For the back cover of the CD case I chose to go for a consistent but also slightly altered look, the character was once again showcased but in a more wild and quirky pose, I did this to show two sides of him one being intriguing and sophisticated with the other the total opposite. Also I chose to have a bright white background instead of any scenery to totally focus on the performer who's image was once again edited to make him look more vibrant, as if her were about to jump right out of the picture. Unlike my music video the CD case had no link to the song title 'Let's go surfing', I thought I would show this link in the magazine advert which is once again very colourful and energetic, this advert involves the performer in another wild pose making him look like he is riding the wave in the background 'surfing'. Once again I chose to have a sunset in the background of this advert as I believe the dynamic and electrifying combination of fantastic colours and a shining sun would make the viewer feel better when seeing it, but also it matches all the other colour schemes within the project. In the ancillary task I really tried to relate everything back to the title of the song 'Let's go surfing' but also it gave me the opportunity to really push the product visually and give it true sense of fun and excitement, as the video lacked a lot of colour I made up for it with the CD case and Magazine advert combination.

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

Throughout the constructive stages of my project I used many different media technologies, whether it be hand-held equipment such as the camera used to film, or websites which aided also in the blogging and creation of the final piece. I used such internet websites as Youtube in my research and planning as I had scoured through many different types of music videos to choose what idea and genre I was going to base my project on, another way I used Youtube was again to look at videos but this time to investigate the types of videos under the 'Indie' genre, I wanted to see what was typical amongst these videos and devised a way to keep my idea within the boundaries of 'Indie' but also make it unique so it stood out from the rest. Along with this website I had also broadly used the internet to its fullest, using websites like wikipedia and looking at the home pages of similar bands to gather information on how I could produce my video and digipak to relate to 'Indie' music fans, I looked at the Drums and their background things like who inspired them, how they met and past albums they had released. All of this research and planning helped me get a grasp how I would have set out to begin this whole project. The camera used for this year was more advanced than the one assigned to us last year, but along with the upgrade came the task of working out how to use these new machines efficiently and to the best of our capability. Other upgrades we received this year were the new Mac computers that were available to us for use. These computers allowed us to edit our videos in a more advanced way with appliances like iMovie which enabled us to edit clips in our video to the highest quality and with a lot more options that were available last year. The Photoshop editing tool gave me the opportunity to construct and edit my digipak and magazine advert to the best of my abilities, once again this application gave me more options on how I could create the final piece and it did, I personally think that the end result looked very professional and well edited and captured the way I envisioned the digipak to have looked like. I believed that the best way to have advertised my work online was through popular social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Friends, family and the world wide web were able to view my project and give me feedback through these websites, the main feedback I received was through friends but also a few passing members of the public also gave me their opinions through Twitter which helped as it was all constructive criticism. Blogger was the main blogging website used by all groups in the class, I grasped the concept of this tool very easily and it has allowed me to track my progress throughout the whole project, I have been able to upload my personal thoughts along with first drafts and final drafts of my work, I can easily look back and pick out parts of my project that I can inject into my evaluation because it is all available to me with the scroll of a mouse. Blogger was another way that allowed me to advertise my project because it was this link that I had shared on my social networking sites that allowed people to view my work.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The most important thing I learned from audience feedback was ways of improving my project, tips that were given were very helpful and they allowed me to better my work in order for it to have become the final piece, an example of this was when a friend who had previously taken A2 media told me ways to make the video more consistent and fluid which in the end made the project look a lot more professional. The majority of people who gave audience feedback seemed to have really enjoyed the product, as I predicted they really enjoyed the fast paced action and matching scenes to the song. I had also shown them my digipak and asked for feedback on that, once again my presumptions were correct in thinking the vibrant colours and unique design would have drawn positive reactions from those shown, the audience had said they were thoroughly entertained by both the music video and digipak and liked how it all linked together. Through he questionnaires I had discovered that a majority of the viewers rated the whole project 8/10 or more apart from one who had scored it 6/10, I then asked why they had scored it this and found that they didn't really enjoy this genre of music and that it was not anything against my work. All in all the feedback received was very positive and helped me get another outlook on my work and how others had perceived it.

HQ version of the video on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIAvhRja-Tk

Follow the link!

Final draft of the music video!!

Research and planning

The Drums Alternate covers for their first Album “Summertime”

Their cover for the brand new Album ‘The Drums’

Background checks on previous albums for this band is very difficult due to them being such a new talent. They have only released two albums in the brief 4 years they have been together, with many of the songs in their first album being reappearing in their latest one.

The Drums online home screen

From first glances at both their website and new album cover you would think that The Drums were very dull and boring, but if you dig deeper into their music and past work you find that they are a very unique and diverse band when compared to the rest. This relates to the Beach Boys album I had placed in the similarity section because from the feed back from most critics and my own personal view, I do think they are This generations Beach Boys with their own spin on things, both bands share a lot of similarities but then at the same time have a lot of differences.

When you look at other similar bands, their album covers share one big likeness and this is a lack of vibrant colours. Its all blacks, greys and dark dreary colours, this really puts a dull cloak over the whole indie genre visually. The strange thing about all these bands is that when you listen to them they are all fantastic in their own unique way but can still remain inside the boundaries of their genre.

Album covers more suited to my first idea

<<Master Shortie ‘ADHD’

Kanye West ‘808’s&heartbreak’>>

Both are from the hip hop genre but suit the look I was going to go for. The song chosen is very upbeat and lively which only deserves a colourful and visually stimulating CD cover instead of a bland one that does not match the song at all. In both example covers there is a single shot of the artist standing in front of a lively background, I would like to take this idea because I think instead of taking the attention away from the artist, the colours emphasise and aluminates them almost off the paper.

When looking at both Kanye’s and Master Shortie’s websites you can immediately see that they are all about music all the time. Master Shortie is constantly posting new songs and music videos of all the big artists but still all the up and coming UK acts at the same time, as you can see there are videos down the left hand side with the same logo and colours from his most recent album ‘ADHD’. Kanye West’s home screen is all about himself and the recent songs he has released with multiple artists, also highlighting his newest single available for purchase ‘Runaway’. The look of his website is very abstract and straight to the point, he doesn’t mess around with things like pictures and Biographies, he just gets down to the music and how to broadcast it to any viewers and listeners.

Examples of storyboards used in research and planning