Friday, 17 December 2010
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Evaluation Task One: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Shot 1: Demonstrates lip-syncing in perfect time with the music which makes the video appear professional and skilled in terms of the editing skills.
Shot 2: Is a Close Up Shot of Chloe, our chosen subject. The Close Up Shot increases audience intimacy with the artist. Moreover, as a company, we wanted to focus on the subjects face rather than physical bodily aspects. We feel that we have achieved this well as Chloe still appears attractive, though without any provocative undertones.
Shot 3: is another Close Up Shot of the main subject. This is a good example of the Indie-Genre as the make up and surroundings are unique and not based around glamour but rather individuality. This is also connected with how the audience perceive our artist as something alternative is what they would prefer to see.
Shot 4: is a Big Close-Up of the subjects lips. This is a similar idea to the make up used in the music video You Came out by We Have Band, an alternative band. This further reinforces the music video as it is an unconventional method of approach to conveying lyrics.
Shot 5: is a medium-shot which pans across roses and sparklers. I think this shot is really effective as it allows the audience to see more of the image rather than a simple still shot. This creates a lingering sensation which is connected to the idea of a dream.
Shot 6: displays lighting within the music video. We used candles in this shot as the surrounding areas were dark but we did not want to overexpose the shot. The use of candles further adds to the enchantment of the music video which connotes a dream-like magic-like feeling.
Shot 7: demonstrates our use of mise-en-scene. This shot is taken from a bed-room where all of the objects within the scene are colourful to match the vibrancy of previous scenes in our music video. Again there are flowers in the shot, similar to the shots of the red roses. This is almost like a snap-shot of the subjects bedroom which gives the audience an impression of what the artist may be like or what they enjoy.
Shot 8: is a close up of the subject. It has been stated that the close up can predominate the music video. Other artists who have made use of the close up are Gwen Stefani, Lady GaGa, P!nk and many more. The close up is used to generate a relationship with the audience and is generally used to emphasise the subjects beauty. Thus conforming to the idea about voyeurism in music videos.
Shot 9: is a close up of a red doll. The shot shows that I have learnt techniques from watching other music videos as the shot is an example of ambi-editing. Rihanna’s video Hard is a good example of a music video which uses ambi-editing. We felt that the inclusion of such elements would add to the effectiveness of our music video and make it seem professional and believable.
Real Music videos:
Shot 1:In this shot the link between the music and visuals is demonstrated by Shakira, the artist playing a pink electric Guitar. As soon as the strumming of the Guitar begins, Shakira can be seen playing the instrument, thus creating a link between the music and visuals.
Shot 2: Shows Lady GaGa lying sideways on a settee in a very revealing patent leather outfit. This signifies that the record company are using body image as a selling point; furthermore, Lady Gaga has platinum blonde hair which can be stereotyped as being a typically feminine image. Giving the overall impression that among other aspects, sexually charged imagery will be one of the record company’s ploys to sell a vast amount of her music.
Shot 3: is demonstrative of Genre. Without knowing any information about the female artist pictured, the combination of the clothing, choice of stance (sitting wide legged on what appears to be a throne), heavy accessories like the silver chain, and a stern intense face are all very strong clues that this music video is of the hip-hop/R&B genre. All of the above are common motifs in music videos which mean the audience will have a clear understanding of what the music video may involve.
Shot 4: highlights intertextuality due to Rihanna wearing a ‘Mickey Mouse’ helmet. The idea has clearly been borrowed from Walt Disney and adapted into a fashion item for the purpose of the music video.
Shot 5: is a Long Establishing Shot presenting the artist Damien Rice at the centre of the shot and alone in the middle of what could possibly be a moor or a field. The shot is effective as it echoes the ambience created by the music which is melancholy and glum. The use of the Long Establishing Shot emphasises loneliness and isolation.
Shot 6: Exhibits an example of effective lighting. Gwen Stefani is the artist/subject and the lighting is low key and has been shot in soft focus. The song is based upon Love so the gentle lighting could be a means of suggesting purity or openness.
Shot 7: Has been taken from P!nk’s ‘Sober’. The setting is somewhat cluttered and in the shot the audience can see alcohol and scattered clothing surrounding the subject which mirrors the title ‘Sober’ and the possibility of drunken activity. The lighting is low key which matches the dominant dark blue tones in the shot.
Shots 8 & 9: are taken from Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi and Gwen Stefani’s Cool. As you can see, both females are drinking cups of tea and the styling in terms of hair colour and positioning of the subject are almost identical.
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Evaluation Task Two: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Two of these images are from the digipak, whilst the remaining two are from the music video. The first image links to the image of the lips as lips and eyes are something which we wanted to enhance and focus upon. This was to emphasise the idea that attractiveness does not have to be bodily. Lips are a very major part in the making of our music video so we wanted to include these on the front cover of our digipak.
As the name of our band is ‘Bat For Lashes’ we decided that imagery involving eyes or eyelashes would be a successful way to portray our band. As you can see, the subject is wearing false eyelashes in the clip taken from the video, and in the first and final images we enhanced the eye-colour and vibrancy of the subjects eyes to sustain continuity.
The first and second images are particularly similar and the cover of our digipak was inspired by the image of Chloe surrounded by red tea lights and candles in our music video. As you can see, the colours and positioning are very similar which is how these images are linked.
This is a collection of images taken from the digipak and the music video. As you can see, they are all based around the mouth and piercings. The subject’s facial expression in the first image is to generate an air of cheekiness, while the presence of the tongue piercing is relative to the Indie Genre. This is because piercings are uncommon in mainstream music and less socially acceptable, thus making piercings relevant to the niche market of alternative/individual music.
Further, the colours that run throughout all of the images are similar in order to create continuity in the images. The fact that the tongue piercing can be seen in the music video whilst the subject is singing will make the audience feel intimate with the artist. Due to this, the viewer will know that the big close ups are of the artists mouth instead of an irrelevant double which some artists like Kylie Minogue are known for doing.
The colours, font and appearance of the subject played major roles in the making of our ancillary texts. As we wanted everything to fit perfectly, we made sure that all three aspects were consistently similar.
Initially, Chloe and I were going to use shots from our music video to create the digipak, magazine advert and poster, but when we saw how poor the quality of the images was when transferred from the video, we thought that taking our own photos would be for the best. We decided to use Chloe as our subject as she is the lead in the music video and audiences would be more likely to buy our product if they were to see images of the artist on posters, digipaks and adverts.
For all of the images we used a studio and set up the lighting ourselves. We used a HD camera for every shot and this really paid off. It was definitely more time consuming than taking screen shots from the video but the difference does is incomparable.
The central colour we used for thedigipak was based around the redness of Chloe’s hair and Chloe’s eyes are a distinct green and we chose to select her eyes and brighten them where possible.
The typography I used is consistant throughout my digipak and magazine advert. The sizes of the font vary but they are all the same which means that audiences will associate the font and colour with the artist.
Overall, the combination of our main product an ancillary texts is very effective as the colours are similar which creates similar vibes from each text.
Evaluation Task Three: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
This is a word cloud that I made using www.wordle.net
I took verbal feedback, visual feedback and video feedback in order to create the word cloud. I thought this would be an effective means of formatting feedback from audiences as it is interactive and as a practical worker, it is visually interesting to me.
The first cloud could be considered negative, though I would consider it to be more like constructive criticism. Words like ‘change shots’ and ‘change cuts’ were what caused Chloe and I to make changes to our music video. Without this feedback, the music video may not have made such significant progress.
This feedback is all from the rough cut, so the idea that we needed to change shots was about the beginning of the music video where there was some erratic shooting of the subject which did not make sense. In order to improve this, we changed the footage to images which were a lot stronger in constructing our music video.
A friend told us that some of the footage was too dark. In order to improve this, we changed the lighting in the video in order to brighten it up. This worked really well and contributed to the overall appearance of the music video.
This is the second word cloud I made which is full of positive comments. All of this feedback was about the Final Cut.
After Chloe and I made all the changes based upon previous comments we received really positive feedback.
We used bold colours and lighting which meant that any of the dark shadows would not be as prominent.
Comments which we kept receiving were about how well lip-synced our footage was- Chloe and I were both really proud of this because this was an aspect which we found quite tedious and difficult, so to have positive feedback about something which we worked on very hard was enlightening.
Something else which our audience really liked was the bat motif and the fact that this particular shot closed the video; they thought it was really strong as well as being appropriate to the band.
The most important comments were about the genre of the band. People stated that we had achieved a ‘unique’ ‘indie’ and ‘really different’ music video through our footage, effects and use of ‘magical’ colour and objects like the birds, dolls, candles and fire.
Overall, there are many more positive comments than negative ones and the ‘negative’ comments helped contribute to the overall appearance of the final music video so audience feedback was a really good idea and experience.
This is a screen shot from Facebook where people left comments stating that the video looks 'very professional' and is 'amazing stuff' leading me to believe this to be true, so i have learnt that the audience feedback acts as a confidence booster as it demonstrated to Chloe and I that we have produced something of high quality.
Another task we did in class was to watch each others music videos and leave post-it notes on the screens stating what we thought about the different music videos.
These are some images of the post it notes Chloe and I received about our music video and something I have learnt form this is that the people watching instantly knew the genre was Indie and Unique, meaning that the impression we wanted to give from the very early stages of the project has worked via the imaginative approach we took to making our music video.
I have also learnt from the feedback we received about the rough cut as this allowed us to make changes which we may not have considered without the input from others.
Overall, audience feedback has been very crucial in the making of our music video as it has caused us to make changes while encouraging Chloe and I to remain very positive about our music video. Most importantly, it has demonstrated to us that we can successfully portray a style through our ideas.
Evaluation Task Four: How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
This is a mood-board I made of all the different new media technologies we have used in the construction, planning, research and evaluation stages of the music video.
New Media Technologies have influenced our project in many ways, and had they not have been so advanced, Chloe and I would not have been able to achieve the outcomes that we have.
First, Chloe and I were unfamiliar users of Final Cut and to build up the knowledge which we now have, it took a lot of time, patience and team effort.
For AS Media last year, Chloe and I were assigned to filming, script writing and planning while the other members of our team concentrated on editing which meant we did not learn as much as we could have about the different processes and techniques.
As we were really new to everything,
We went looked up Final Cut tutorials on YouTube to help us gain more of an understand the intricacy of the programme.
When we first opened to programme, I was very confused and clueless as to where to begin- there were lots of drop down boxes, applications, toolbars and buttons which caused even more confusion. The general format of Final Cut was something which I had never seen.
Here is an example of a really helpful tutorial programme which we used:
It took a long time to get used to the different features and technical aspect of Final Cut, but eventually we began to understand how it worked. Final Cut would now act as the foundation for our music video; we would use it to make the video fit together to make a sequence and without it, our music video would not have been able to be finalised.
I think that this programme allowed us limitless freedom with editing techniques and special effects. I am aware that many large budget movies have used this programme thus meaning a lot can be achieved from it.
This leads me to discuss the use of the mac’s in class. Prior to the making of the music video, I had used Mac’s in my own leisure time at friends houses to surf the internet but never for anything complex like making a music video.
Without the Mac’s we wouldn’t have been able to use Final Cut Express which would have meant our music video would not have comprised any special effects at all; to be precise, the shots of the subjects lips- the main focus of our music video would not have been so vivid in their colour, neither would the shots of Chloe with the candles around her as we changed the lighting and contrasts in these shots.
In hindsight, the idea of removing these shots from the music video would have meant an unsuccessful outcome and a very unprofessional appearing one.
After the music video was finalised using Final Cut Express alongside the Mac’s. The next stage was promotion. And had we not had the internet we would not have been able to show our music video on different social networking sites such as Facebook. I personally have a Facebook page and when the music video was complete, I published a post encouraging friends and family to watch it and without technological advances, I would not have been able to do this.
Furthermore, Chloe and I would not have been able to upload our video onto Vimeo or YouTube, and any other methods of demonstration could have been very costly. In addition, Chloe and I would also not be able to have the same quality video, as HD cameras would not have been made meaning that standard DV cameras would have had to be used leading to the crisp appearing footage being lost to less aesthetically pleasing ones.
This is an image looking at HD vs SD and as you can see, the difference is so apparent that had we used SD in our music video, it would have caused significantly negative outcomes.
This is a screen shot of our music video on YouTube which demonstrates that without the use of the internet, Chloe and I would not have received over two hundred views or any feedback at all.
Here is a screen shot of my main source; the blog,
The blog has got all the information on it, from the initial analysis of music videos to the final master, and without the internet, I would not have been able to document all of this information.
Overall, I have learnt that I am very fortunate to have been surrounded by such advances in New Media Technologies. I use the internet every day and it has played a major role in the making of this project. Also, the use of the Mac's and practical aspects like the cameras have allowed us to create the piece that we have and i now have a greater understanding of how much of an influence New Media Technologies have had upon the outcome!
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Reflection:
I would probably have liked to include some shots of the band and if we had more time we would have done this and made an even better music video.
We probably would have filmed more varied footage to make the video more interesting than it already is.
I feel that Chloe and I have made equal contributions to the overall project and I would hope that Chloe feels the same. Arguments over who does what tend to happen a lot in these situations, but things like that never arose for us.
Overall, everything has worked out really well and both Chloe and I are happy so all in all there is not much I would change.
Monday, 13 December 2010
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Myspace contact:
This is a message that I sent to Bat For Lashes; Similar to the initial message asking for permission to use music.
I said:
Hello, the music video is now finishes and we thought you might want to take a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbcie3iedRA
that's the link to the video we made.
Any responses will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Feedback about rough cut
These are comments which Chloe and I particularly liked as they inspired us about the storyline of our music video. For example, the comment about the sparklers building tension through the use of fire and the continuity of the bat in flames. This was something which we had not considered before we received feed back and the way we filmed was actually a coincidence so we were very happy about this.
Analysis of rough cut
Analysis of Rough Cut:
This is our rough cut and a lot of work needs to be done if we are to reach the level which we so desire.
For example, the opening does not have any establishing shots; only erratic shots which look very unprofessional and unplanned. This is because we have managed to get the bulk of the editing done meaning that anything else which needs to be inserted will be allot simpler because the basic outline of the footage is evident.
We intend to change the first shot of the pink lips to something much stronger in its tone in order to make the opening far more powerful than its current weak state.
All of the footage that seems irrelevant like the subject looking unprepared will be replaced with video recordings that will be significant and related to the music video.
The footage is lip-synced in time so all of this type of footage will remain in the same place and we will work around the valid clips so that we do not need to change everything.
When the blue lips change to pink at 0:28-0:30, the syncing is not as good as it could be so this is something we will need to review and make changes to.
Up until we the big close up of the subjects lips painted grey and purple, there is an equal amount of footage for each change of scenery, however this clip lasts too long and we intend to shorten this by inserting another clip towards the end of the purple and grey lip image.
During the purple footage, at 1:28, Chloe and I will insert different footage in order to make it less lengthy.
From 1:37-1:42 there is simply a prolonged shot of the subjects lips painted blue and pink which is unnecessary and so will be cut.
This happens again at 1:44-1:50 and so this will also need to be cut for the same reasons.
The footage from 2:00-2:08 needs to be re-looked at as again the blue lips are prolonged and shots of other colours of lips could be inserted, and the shot of the cat needs to be removed as this was placed into the music video rough cut accidentally.
2:20-2:22 needs to be removed as the subject was not fully ready for shooting and is so behind in terms of the timing.
This happens again at 2:37-2:39 and so this footage too will be cut.
At the moment there is not a definitive ending of the music video, however, we have planned to fade-out footage of the flaming bat to close the footage. After we make all of the above changes, the music video should be finished and to a very high quality.
Friday, 3 December 2010
Audience Feedback about Rough Cut;
These are the post-it notes taken from the audience feedback we received about our rough cut. All of the feedback will be taken positively as any negative feedback will have an impact upon the changes we will make to what will be the final cut.