The brief I had chosen to was “a promotion package for the release of an
album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three
options:
§ A website
homepage for the band
§ A cover for
its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
§ A magazine
advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)
Unlike the AS coursework brief "The main task in this piece of coursework to complete a front page, contents page and a double page spread for a new music magazine. However if the work is done in a group, each individual has to produce their own edition of the magazine, following the same house style." Last year I worked as an individual and created a rock genred magazine. Whilst working as an individual, I decided to create a cover for its release as part of a digipak and a website home page for the band; as I believe these are what is connected with a music band/artist. Usually the advertisement for the digipak from a band/artist isn’t an advertisement as such, the journalists working for the magazine are more than likely going to interview the artists/band and then do a small advertisement at the bottom of the article, I know this from researching into different music magazines and creating my double page spread in my AS Media Coursework. Therefore I decided that this wouldn’t be appropriate for me as personally I tend to not notice the small advertisements, but research for new album releases via the bands/artists webpage.
Unlike the AS coursework brief "The main task in this piece of coursework to complete a front page, contents page and a double page spread for a new music magazine. However if the work is done in a group, each individual has to produce their own edition of the magazine, following the same house style." Last year I worked as an individual and created a rock genred magazine. Whilst working as an individual, I decided to create a cover for its release as part of a digipak and a website home page for the band; as I believe these are what is connected with a music band/artist. Usually the advertisement for the digipak from a band/artist isn’t an advertisement as such, the journalists working for the magazine are more than likely going to interview the artists/band and then do a small advertisement at the bottom of the article, I know this from researching into different music magazines and creating my double page spread in my AS Media Coursework. Therefore I decided that this wouldn’t be appropriate for me as personally I tend to not notice the small advertisements, but research for new album releases via the bands/artists webpage.
When first planning my music video I chose the genre Grime as this is my
most favourite genre, and I believed I would be able to work well with this
genre. The song I had chosen was “Slaves” by popular grime artist Kano;
nevertheless when I began to think about the storyboard my ideas were far too
extravagant. The cost of the video would have been astronomical; I did have
some of the cast members needed for the video however due to their jobs and/or
college commitments it would have been impossible to film. Therefore I changed
my mind and decided to work within the Indie/Ska genre by picking Manchester
band KiD BRiTiSH and their take on Ska band Madness “Our House” with “Our House
is Dadless.” When I picked the song I knew I’d be able to produce a
well-structured video due to the area I live in and my interpretation of the
song.
My target audience for the music video I have produced is teenagers aged
16-19, similarly to this the music magazine I created during my AS year had a
target audience of 15-24 year olds. Although this may seem like a different age
they are quite similar in terms of music, usually 16-19 teenagers illegally
download music online after researching through YouTube into different and new
bands that they may like; the reason my target audience is 16-19 is due to the
77% stating they are in this age bracket on my poll on my blog. As 54% of the
audience said they prefer performance form in music videos I gave them this in
my video, as I believed they would prefer this to the 45% that said they like
the abstract and narrative form. Usually teenage girls like to see the male
artist in the music video if they are attracted to them, as 66% of my target
audience are females I decided on using a male cast member not just because of
the band being all males but because this would fit in with the needs of the
audience.
When I decided on finally filming to KiD BRiTiSH “Our House is Dadless”
I originally wanted to use my cast member and his friends, however after long
talks I realised they wouldn’t be as committed as my cast member and this in
the long run would ruin my music video. Therefore I had decided to change the
band into a solo artist knowing I would be able to film my cast member (Tom) at
any given time, as we were relatively close. I decided to ask a few of my
females friends to feature on the music video, at the time I asked a very close
friend to film for me however after being let down I made the decision to ask
someone I knew would be interested, this was then the better idea as she was
extremely committed to the role even though she only had to do three things in
three different shots.
Form and Content affect meaning. Forms and
conventions.
Giving a critical analysis of my final pieces (music video, digipak and
website) I have come to the conclusion I am quite happy with them all, however
each of them do differ when I analysed them. Under each subheading I have given
a brief analysis of the music video and my ancillary texts.
Music
Video
For the opening scene I wrote the title of the song on a piece of paper,
whilst filming in a medium close up. As the beginning of the song is 8 seconds
long I had to speed up the writing process to ensure it would fit in this small
time frame, doing this has enabled me to show more than just the cast member
singing throughout the song which is what I have always seen in indie/ska music
videos. Below is a screen shot of the scene that I have slightly analysed.
Overall I think the music video communicates to the target audience in a
specific way, as KiD BRiTiSH said about their track “Our
modern day take on growing up in a single parent household!” I believe I had
conveyed this too in my music video; stereotypically people who live on council
estates are usually ‘dadless’ therefore this is why I had chosen to film on a
council estate. In the music video I am trying to convey a message to the
target audience, that whether they are from a council estate or not they are
able to achieve, if this were a real media text the cast member would have been
from a council estate without a father figure but still being a successful
musician. Below I have embedded my final edit of my music video. After 2:48 there is black showing up until 7:05, I have been unable to get rid of this blackness without ruining the video itself.
Digipak
To link the music video and digipak I used the images
from my video “Our House is Dadless” I believed this would show a form of
continuity. After analysing the digipak I have come to the conclusion that the
images look quite dark, however this isn’t a problem as I think it works well
with the stereotypical feel to a council estate, drab, dark and dangerous. I didn’t
follow the usual conventions for a digipak under the indie/ska genre, as I
wanted to challenge them and make a difference; as the “It Was This or
Football” album was only available to download online I can only analyse the
front cover that is shown below. However I think using slightly toned down
images on my digipak helps to reflect the view of a council estate, whereas the
bright front cover from KiD BRiTiSH’s digital album makes the album seem happy
when it fact it’s actually quite a sad and dreary album.
Website
Unlike some other indie/ska websites the website I
created for my ancillary text is quite plain however with a monochrome theme to
it as I believed this theme would fit in well with the genre. To make the
website look more realistic I’ve embedded the music video onto the front page
and an image of the digipak, with a caption stating it’s available to purchase
now. When analysing both my website and similar band Madness’ blog/website I
have noticed a lot of difference, however I have also analysed my model website
which was Calvin Harris’ webpage.
Calvin Harris' website
Madness' blog/website
TGC website
How did you
use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
When planning what I would do for my music video I used YouTube to
search for indie videos, which I was then planning on analysing the codes and
conventions used. I however decided to analyse the song I had chosen to use in
my music video, as I was then able to see if I could interpret any of the shots
and angles in my own music video. To ensure I had an understanding of the genre
I researched into the track sampled in “Our House is Dadless” which is “Our
House” by Madness, once seeing how Madness dressed in their music video I then
moved onto researching the fashion. However as my chosen song has a genre of
Ska and Indie I also researched into the indie fashion styles, I then came to
the conclusion I needed to go through my main cast members’ wardrobe which
would determine what clothing he should wear during the filming. Also with
YouTube I was able to upload every shot I’d taken and also upload my final
video once it was complete.
Once I’d picked out the clothing that my cast member should wear I
decided as a media student it would be best to use photography and media based
websites to show my work. To present the costumes that my cast member would be
wearing I posted them to pin board application Pinterest, as I believed this
was a better way of showing I am capable of using a wide variety of
applications rather than just uploading my images to Blogger, or Prezi. I also
uploaded images of the equipment and props I used in my music video. Using
Pinterest enabled me to upload images on the go via my iPhone, which meant I
could continuously keep up with my work. I knew I wanted to film on the estate that
I live on, however I needed to be able to present where I would be filming
therefore I decided to take images of the area with my Samsung WB150 and
FujiFilm Finepix S1500 and show them through online presentation tool Empressr.
During my AS course I made continuous usage of online presentation tool Prezi,
so I wanted to now move onto a different presentation platform, Empressr was
free and easy to use and I was also able to go back to the presentation to
include more images. When researching the fashion, CD covers, and other
elements which helped in the making of my music video, I always used Google
Chrome as I had a Google account that allowed me to access previously closed
tabs on any technological platform once I signed into the account. Therefore when
I was researching via my iPhone and iPad I could log into Google account and
open up previously closed websites and continue my research.
As I had decided to create a website and digipak for my ancillary texts,
I had to be very creative and find a free online web builder. To create the
website I used online web maker Wix, which for new users is very easy to use
and had free templates to build from; I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete the
website instantly therefore using this web building software I could save my
work and go back to it another day. As I’d already began my website I had to
then think about the digipak, originally I wanted to do a 4 panel digipak but
later changed my mind to a 6 panel digipak, as I’d taken numerous photographs
therefore I thought I should use them. The digipak templates I used can be
found online at Disc Wizards, which was a huge help as I was able to know the
exact sizes that I needed for the measurements of the images I’d chosen to use
and previously edited. Once I’d decided on the template size I enhanced and
brightened some images in iPhoto as I find this software easy to use and simple
to do when only needing to do very miniscule edits; I had some fonts in mind
that I wanted to use for my digipak therefore I used online editing website
PicMonkey and created six drafts of album covers and track lists, finally to
decided on the font “Tall Dark and Handsome” as explained in my previous blog
posts. Using online technological features has helped me to progress my knowledge
further with what the Internet can provide, also it has helped me to understand
the usages of these programs for later use. During my AS course I used the
basic fonts on Adobe Photoshop for the whole of my music magazine as I hadn’t
researched into using different online features such as PicMonkey, however once
I researched into different online editing software I became aware of the
different tools online which have helped me to progress more I believe in the
terms of editing, researching and constructing a media product.
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier were used frequently throughout my
coursework, being new to Adobe Premier I did struggle to begin with however
once I knew I wanted to use direct cuts instead of fancy transitions I became
aware of how easy it was to use. Using this technological feature has shown
that I am capable of grasping new programmes, I learnt to delete the audio once
I’d finished with it otherwise I began to get confused as to why there was
extra sound. Whereas due to using Adobe Photoshop throughout my AS course I had
a great deal of understanding when it came to the basic tools, I knew which
tools I could use correctly and how to edit images in Photoshop if need be.
However unlike during my AS course when I used Photoshop continuously, I used
the photo editing software to resize images for the ancillary texts; Adobe
Photoshop and Adobe Premier were only used throughout the construction stages
of my A2 Advanced Portfolio.
Similarly to my AS course I have made usage of GoAnimate, an online tool
that translates written words into an interactive conversation created online.
During my A2 Advanced Portfolio I used GoAnimate to evaluate and discuss the
reasons behind the images of the locations I had taken, I found this would have
been easier than typing out an essay to explain something that could be
listened to and easier to understand. I also used GoAnimate to share my
audience feedback, as the people I asked didn’t want to be videoed, therefore
this is a great alternative to share the views of others. During my AS course I
also used GoAnimate to portray the views of my audience whilst collecting
feedback for my music magazine.
How
effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Once completing my music video I was then to gather audience feedback on
my video and the ancillary texts, this was to determine how effective the
combination between the three were. I asked “Do you think the website is
believable?” and from my audience responses I found they liked website
especially as believed the monochrome theme fitted perfectly due to this being
widely associated with ska fashion, also the different pages on the website
such as “Tour” and the text box stating there will be photos uploaded soon on
the “Gallery” page makes it believable. The feedback I received for my digipak
when comparing it to the music video was, my cast member wore a vibrant orange
jacket for the front of my digipak which made it look like a 90s hip-hop album
cover, but it’s effective as I’m showing a comparison to what my cast member
has worn in the video. Similarly to this the different locations in which my
video was taken is the image behind the CD tray which a respondent deemed to be
“very creative;” personally I believe the combination of my music video and
ancillary texts are slightly effective as I am showing a comparison between the
three and trying to create a theme, nevertheless I do agree with one of the
respondents whom said the front cover of the digipak does look like it should
be for a 90s hip-hop album. If I were to do this again I would photograph my
cast member wearing the black jacket that is seen throughout the video, as I
believe this would have tied in more with the indie genre, rather than creating
a different implication to the genre.
What have
you learnt from audience feedback?
From analysing my audience feedback I have learnt a great deal; if I
were to do this again and pick the same song I would have to think more about
the casting and costume, my cast member Tom was slightly awkward when filming
outside due to being shy, therefore we had to keep changing the video to fit
him. My audience had seen this and made a comment on it, which when trying to
produce a music video the cast members should be confident and show they are
not afraid of being in front of the camera. His music preference is different
to mine, he likes grime, rap and hip-hop therefore his choice of clothing
represent that which however contrasted in the music video as the genre was
indie/ska. Once again the audience picked up on this slight flaw, although the
only item of clothing which received a negative comment was the vibrant orange
jacket as this was deemed to be more 90s hip-hop.
Other than the above, I have learnt from my audience feedback if I am going
to pick a song written and performed by a band I should have included more cast
members rather than picking just one. There were multiple voices in the song
track, which is evidently heard and my audience picked up on this as they made
a comment about it. Although this isn’t a huge problem, I do believe if I had
chosen my cast carefully I could have portrayed the image of a band slightly
better than what I did; therefore if I were to do this again I would involve
more confident cast members or pick a different song by a solo artist.
In what way
does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
Having previously analysed my chosen song I was able to see the
conventions they used in their music video. My music video is slightly similar
as I use similar camera angles and movements, such as close ups, medium shots
and tracking shots, nevertheless in terms of editing they have a mixture of
long and short shots with some filters used over the shots. However I had
chosen to use mainly short clips and cut to the beat of the track without using
any features, although their music video gives a vibe of being filmed in the
middle of the 90s possibly 95/96 I wanted to change that and ensure people knew
it was filmed now, therefore I had chosen to not use any filters. As some indie
bands deem themselves to be independent and nothing to do with major record
labels, I developed on this theory by shooting some of the music video by hand
holding the camera as this reinforces the indie genre, due to being seen in the
‘unprofessional’ manner both filming and in the vocals.
When watching some indie music videos I noticed their form are quite
similar, using they have a narrative or abstract form however I challenged this
by sticking to the performance form which 54% of the audience said they
preferred. However to include some conventions of real products I added some
little narrative features such as the mother dancing, cooking bacon and doing
the washing just to give the audience a slight feel into the life of the cast
member portrayed in the music video. In contrast to this, I developed the form
in terms of the ska genre, as many of their music videos are performance with a
hint of narrative. By doing this I was able to give a slight imitation to both
the indie and ska genre that the song is based upon.
I challenged the conventions of real indie/ska media products by
changing the costume, usually the artists in these music videos wouldn’t give a
laid back vibe about their clothing there would be some element of ‘dressy’
however to make sure my cast member felt comfortable I left him to wear the
clothes he enjoyed. This challenged the conventions of the indie/ska genre as
his clothing is usually based around the hip-hop and/or grime genre.
However, during my AS course I didn’t challenge the conventions too much
as I wasn’t too sure on whether it would make my music magazine seem too
‘out-there’ therefore I stuck to the conventions of the music magazines, e.g.
keeping the barcode on the right, having a big masthead and keeping the main
coverlines simple. Also in terms of costume conventions my music magazine had a
genre of rock, therefore I used a model who loved the rock genre, dressed in
the stereotypical rock way and kept the conventions tailored to that genre.
Media institutions and audiences and audience
feedback.
Improvements
If I had the opportunity to improve the music video and ancillary texts
I would do many things differently. Under each subheading I will be explaining
what I would do different to change my final pieces.
Music
Video
If I had the chance to start over with my music video I would change the
song to fit my cast member, as he prefers the grime/hip-hop genre, this would
then possibly make my music video better as he would be more confident and
comfortable with the song. Therefore this would show in my video and it may
have been easier for me to film as my cast member (Tom) would have been happier
to film to a song he knows, rather than to learn lyrics to a song he disliked.
However, if I weren’t able to change my song but was able to change what was in
the video I would change the casting to a band rather than a solo artist;
having a band would have made things easier possibly as I could have shown them
performing with microphones and instruments. Plus as “Our House is Dadless” is
by a band it would have been more convenient to film five cast members singing
to each part in the song that would be ‘their’ verse.
During the music video my cast member is seen to wear numerous different
outfits throughout it, at the time I thought this was a good idea however now
looking back I can see that this doesn’t show continuity and looks
unprofessional. Therefore if I were able to improve the video I would ensure my
cast member wore the same outfit throughout the video, this would then have
given the video that look of professionalism.
As I had left filming until a little bit later on it the year due to
changing my song and having to change the research, I didn’t have much time to
film or edit. Therefore I was left to rush with the filming and editing,
however if I had planned properly when and where I was going to film and what I
was going to film, I believe with using appropriate time frames and sticking to
my plan I would have been able to film in a less stressful manner and have much
more time to edit rather than to cram my editing time into a period of three
consecutive days.
Planning
To make improvements to my music video I could have done to spend more
time planning and researching, therefore I’d have had a specific idea as to
what it was I wanted to achieve from my music video and ancillary texts. Whilst
planning I would have thought more about the locations I’d filmed in, a lot of
the filming is done in my house which is quite small therefore there wasn’t a
lot of space to move around is especially when I was filming whilst using the
tri-pod. Also due to the time periods whilst I was filming there were some
shots that looked Christmassy as it was the Christmas season, whereas in other
clips the house is back to normal due to filming when Christmas was over.
When planning my storyboard I only had a very slight idea to what it was
that I was hoping to achieve, however to improve this I could have spent more
time analysing the lyrics rather than just timing them. With the analysis of
the lyrics I would have had a better chance of creating a storyboard I felt
proud with and would have possibly stuck this, as I would have had a specific
idea of what I wanted and hoped for my video to look like. I believe this would
have been a huge improvement to the final music video.
In the audience feedback, the respondents picked up on the different
outfits that were worn during the making of the music video. Therefore if I had
planned a specific outfit that I wanted my cast member to wear I think this
would have added better continuity to the music video, also planning an outfit
that would have been tailored to the indie/ska genre may have worked better
with the costume conventions.
Digipak
As I had originally planned to create the digipak as a single, I had
taken photos relevant to the “Our House is Dadless” track and similar to the
music video. However, as I changed my mind about the digipak and decided to
create the album “It Was This or Football” I was only able to use the images I
had taken for the previous idea of the digipak, nevertheless if I were to
improve on this I would have changed my mind earlier and taken photos that
where relevant to this album, such as including a football goal just to show
some forms of similarity.
On the digipak I have left empty spaces along the sides, as I was unsure
on what to put there, however if I were to improve this I would have put both
the artists name and album title in these areas for the outside. Nevertheless
the white sides on the inside of the digipak could have been filled in with the
images either side of them so the images were all touching, making it seem like
one long image.
Website
The website was very simple and basic to create, I already liked the
template I was using therefore I didn’t have much to change. However looking
back I have now come to realise I could have improved it by changing the layout
so it wasn’t as bland, I could have done this by adding images which reference
the genre of the artist which in this case would be images to do with the
genres indie and ska.
Media
Institutions
KiD BRiTiSH themselves have broken up due to personal reasons, as I am a
fan of their music I noticed the more they jumped around record labels the less
albums they published, therefore for my artist “TGC” I have decided he would be
signed to XL Recordings. This independent record label was found in 1989,
distributing through Beggars Group and doesn’t have a focus on any specific genres,
therefore I believe this would be a good record label to sign my artist to as
the tracks on the albums varies, some of the tracks are rap, others are ska,
and some are indie/reggae.
Audiences want to purchase/download their favourite artists/bands new
music all the time, therefore it is best to sign “TGC” to a record label that
ensures an average of six album releases per year, worldwide. Which also helps
the status of the artist to grow, which in the long run is what an artist
wants. Currently XL Recordings are working with:
§ Adele
§ Atoms for
Peace
§ Bobby Womack
§ Friendly
Fires
§ Basement
Jaxx
§ Beck
§ Blue Roses
§ Giggs
§ Gil
Scott-Heron
§ The Horrors
§ Jack Penate
§ Jack White
§ Jai Paul
And many more. This is a good sign for “TGC” as he would be involved in
record label that deals with both independent and recently major successful
artists.
Below I have embedded the audience feedback that I inserted into
GoAnimate.
Strengths
Each of the media products I have created has strengths. Below I have
explained the strengths under the subheading of which media product I am
discussing.
Music
Video
Although I am not entirely happy with my music video, I believe there
are some strengths within it. Although I was having problems with my cast
member, such as him not remembering the lyrics or trying to remember the
lyrics, the clips that I have shot and edited together have synced quite well.
As I had never used Adobe Premier before until this course, I was able to
change the pace of the video when Tom had said the lyrcis either too slow or
too fast. Overall I think the editing is the strength in the music video and
the natural lighting.
Digipak
Every image within the digipak relates to the track “Our House is
Dadless” creating a continuous flow throughout the full piece. I am happy with
the outcome of this digipak, as I believe it looks quite professional, the only
downside I have to this media product is how it doesn’t really link in with the
“It Was This or Football” title. Nevertheless I believe the dullness of the images
also represent how a council estate is portrayed, which is what is expected in
the digipak.
Website
This is the media product which I am least happy about, however I think
for an independent artist this is the type of website that is needed until they
progress. I like the idea of using the monochrome theme to fit in with the
ska/indie genre I think this reinforces the originality of the genre. Usually
ska is associated with black and white i.e. monochrome, therefore using this on
my website was definitely a strength.
In contrast to my AS portfolio, which I felt happy about and relived
once I’d completed it. I feel I could have put more effort into my A2 portfolio
and developed it to a higher standard than what I have done now.
