Looking Back At The StoryBoard

Now we have completed the music video task I thought it would be good to look back at the initial storyboard I created to see how we developed our ideas from this and how things changed slightly.

So the first shot was planned to be of the artist. This was kept as it introduces the artist nicely.

The 2nd shot was to be the couple walking down the stairs together. The 2nd shot is now a landscape shot which pans up into the sky to set the romantic setting, however as it pans up it sets a quite spooky sky scene.

So the third shot is just the same as the original storyboard as it is of the stairs however after this it is the couple on the stairs and then cross dissolves into the actor on his own. This is because we developed our original idea to a more bold and unique idea/look.

After this on the story board there was supposed to be the shot of the guy with the cards. We kept this the same as we thought this would show the guy reminising well.

After this was planned to be a close up of the artist however as I developed our ideas and got rough cut feedback from our teachers they liked the memory concept and thought we should show this as much as possible, therefore because of this we decided to add more memories scenes of the couple together and apart. So this is what I done.

You can see the colour contrast between the two scenes. We used this idea to show the mood of the scenes. So going from happy to sad and lonely.

To show the guy reminising and remembering his girlfriend I came up with the idea of using candles to symbolise this instead of having a shot of the couple in the forest as planned due to the fact I thought the symbolism of candles is much stronger.

Next was supposed to be a montage of the couple. However when getting to know the song pace more I felt as if a montage wouldn't work well and therefore I decided to keep with the pace of using a slower clip of the guy lonely.

This clip was supposed to be of the guy walking past the form and looking out for the girl however once I had analysed the timings of the song this was a perfect time to re shot the artist and have her lip syncing, as this is a crucial convention of a music video.

Because we just showed the artist I didn't think it would look right if I had faded it back into the artist and therefore chose to show a new memory.

Next was suppose to be a clip of the forest again however as we hadn't used this previously I decided to use the candles clip instead to use this over and over to show the rememberance theme.

Which then fades into a photo frame to show notions of looking.

Here was supposed to be a shot of the artist however due to our teachers saying focus on the memory aspect. I decided to use a romantic location of the couple together and then show the guy angry when the girl is no longer there.

I then decided to show the artist as she hadn't been seen in quite a while so I thought it was neccesary.

Here was supposed to be a montage however as before the pace of the song wouldn't suit the montage so therefore I used the forest idea which gives it a romantic secret feel.

I then shot the artist again just as originally planned in the storyboard.

Here was planned to be a montage again however I decided again not to include this so instead would reinforce the rememberance aspect, which works really well. After this was a shot of the candles all blown out due to the fact the pace of the song went quite dramatic.

Here was supposed to be the cards and then the artist lip syncing next, however this wouldn't work with the song timing as the chorus started here so therefore I had the shot of the artist here instead.

Here was supposed to be the couple on the bench however it then changed as I didn't feel as if a bench would be too much of a romantic setting so I developed it to a walk along the river.

It was planned to be the artist here to finish the song however when analysing the song properly I realised that the initial timings were wrong as the song hadn't finished. Therefore I decided to reinforce the notions of looking theory of Goodwins with the photo frames.

Here is another memory aspect in a romantic setting as this was our main concept. I broke the scenes up nicely by fading the couple together in bright colours with a vignette into a clip of the actor alone with a very dull mood.

It then goes back to need to sell the artist so a nice clip of the artist was shown.

Which then goes back to the photo frame aspect of memories.

From our teacher feedback I learnt how to use cross dissolve and therefore used this with lots of photo to give a nice memory feel.

It then goes to the haunted look of the thought of the guy being watched by the girl ghost. Which gives notions of looking again.

Then is a clip of the artist walking down the stairs to fit the lyrics.

To end the video is a nice romantic shot of the couple next to the sunset.










So in conclusion I used my research very well to develop my ideas and concept from my original ideas from my storyboard.

Final Cut Transition Research

A transition is the visual effect that is used to carry along or to change the transition between two clips or images. I researched the basic transitional effects – at the start of the project - of Final Cut and listed them below.

3D Simulations

These transitions are Cross Zoom, Cube Spin, Spin 3D, Spinback 3D, Swing, and Zoom. They are used to create a large impact between clips, to catch the attention or to give off a somewhat futuristic or humorous feel to the audience. Such a transition style would not be suitable for our music video as it is too bold and would ruin the emotion we are trying to create.

Dissolves

These transitions are Additive dissolve, Cross dissolve, Dither dissolve, Fade In, Fade Out, Non-Additive dissolve, and Ripple dissolve. Dissolve is the most commonly used transition. These transitions morph the image into something else by gradually erasing what was there before hand.

Page Peel

Page peel is literally as its name states, the first clip feels away like a page to reveal the second clip. Such an effect could possibly be used in conjunction with the “memories” theme however it is still a little too bold to be placed within our video.

QuickTime

The 13 QuickTime transitions are Alpha Compositor, Chroma Key, Cross Fade, Explode, Gradient wipe, Implode, Iris, Matrix wipe, Push, Radial, Slide, Wipe, and Zoom. QuickTime has its own selection on effects. Cross fades are used in out video to create a soft yet ghostly effect between clips. Other transitions however are a little too overpowering to be used. 

Slide

These transitions are Band slide, Box slide, Center Split slide, Multi-Spin slide, Push slide, Spin slide, Split slide, and Swap slide.

Stretch and Squeeze

These transitions are Cross Stretch, Squeeze, Squeeze and Stretch, and Stretch.

Using these transitions makes the clips look rather distorted, so would be inappropriate to use in such a serious and deep meaning video, as they will stretch the faces and backgrounds of clips to something bizarre. 

Wipe

These transitions include Band wipe, Center wipe, Checker wipe, Checkerboard wipe, Clock wipe, Edge wipe, Gradient wipe, Inset wipe, Jaws wipe, Random Edge wipe, V wipe, Venetian Blind wipe, Wrap wipe, and Zigzag wipe. Wipes are different to dissolves as they do not blend in the transition process. Although they are not as subtle as dissolves, so would not be suitable for our video. Wipes are often used in family memory or home video editing, again as they provide a somewhat comic aspect.

Music Video Research

Music Video research:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PojE1LTswV0&ob=av2e

The first video I looked at was “Memories” by Within Temptation. Dissimilar to the band’s usual rock based music, this song was rather slow in comparison and filled with deep meaning. The song is about looking back to the past with hints of loss and regret with the imagery of faded reflections in the mirror and a ghost like presence in both the video and the lyrics. In comparison to our own music video, the piece has been saturated to give it a dramatic and emotional feel, is story lined based and has a gothic quality to it. “Memories” however features the artist a lot more often than in our own video, is of a different genre and does not involve a couple particularly. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_S_TbD1XFM&ob=av2e

The second video I looked at was “Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy. This video is based around the loss of a love, similar to our own music video. It also includes elements of memories and looking back to the past, as if the woman’s lover had died for some reason. This feel is mirrored in our own music video project, but it is portrayed differently. There is so differentiation between the past and the present; all the clips are actually rather bright which gives a lighter sense to the video. This matches the lyrics; “I never want to see you unhappy”.  The video overall has a very home-movie feel to it which, after reading feedback, is similar to our own video, but “Almost Lover” shows only one half of the couple and not the man. Furthermore the singer acts the woman of the couple, whereas in our video I played the artist and Nicola was the actress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Zqq5YY4t4

The third video I researched was “Reila” from the Japanese band The GazettE. Although the video is, of course, in Japanese I discovered many reasons as to why it is relevant to analyse in contrast to our own music video.  The song and video again reflect a feeling of lost love and looking back to the past, reliving memories – shown by the girl looking back to her childhood, wishing to be a ballerina. The lyrics “Reila... Even if I try to call out your name, this voice does not reach you...” reflect this notion.  The saturation of the video and the transitions used are also very similar to that of our own music video, as well as the pace of the song (despite being rock) and the haunting aspect of the video. The imagery of death and mourning is also used in the video, when Ruki – the singer - places flowers over the body towards the end of the piece. However the video is rather different to ours as the artists, particularly Ruki, are shown throughout most of the video and the pace of editing is much faster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX093fWDzfI

The fourth video I looked at was another by The GazettE, called “Pledge.” Rather different from the previous, this video was much slower paced and less dramatic in costume and imagery. The entirety of the video is in black and white, giving a very dramatic yet cold look to the video but the band are features less to give way to the actors performing the main story line of the video. Again it gives a sense of lost love and regret, especially with the imagery of tears and rain, and lyrics such as “Our hearts must know the meaning of losing each other”. Raw emotion is also shown more on Ruki’s face as he sang, which I tried to mimic in my own lip-synching performance in our video.  The pace of editing has also slowed down slightly to match in with the feel of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkFHlAdGGV4&feature=related

The final video I looked at, back to English again was “Snuff” by Slipknot. Very different to their usual style “Snuff” is very slow and does not contain any elements of metal or heavy guitar/drums/screamo. Instead to fit into the emotion of the song, the singer’s voice is the main focus.  What I found interesting of this video was the fact the artist is not shown lip synching at all, which is very dramatic for a music video, but may have been done for the fact the artist is seen throughout with no mask on. There is also a heavy sense of voyeurism, through television screens, uses of phones and the fact the actor is sneaking into his ex-lovers room with her only in the next room.  The video does give a sense of lost love, but not because of death yet the feeling of haunting is still shown purely because of the man’s break in.

Goodwins Analysis of "Beyonce - Love on Top"

So to begin with the first point of Goodwins theory is: "Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

" So within this video there is a dance routine throughout so this video is very genre specific. The next point of Goodwins theory is: "There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)." There is a vague link between these for example: 'I can see the stars all the way from here" at this shot she moved her hands to suggest stars so it is vaguely illustrative.

 The next point is "There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)."  The music pace fits the visuals throughout as the dance routine speeds up when the song does etc. 

"The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)." There is shots of the artist throughout with several close ups so this shows that they have used need to sell the artist. So the visual style this creates for Beyonce is that the focus is on her in this video with no narrative. 

"There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body." For this point it is present as  there is voyeuristic treatment of Beyonce throughout the video due to the fact of her outfit and her dancing throughout the video. 

The last point of Goodwins Theory is "There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv  programmes, other music videos etc)." There is no clear link to us of intertextual reference.

MTV Task

After watching the five nominees videos we feel as if the winner should have been Katy Perry with her song ‘firework’. This is for many reasons.

For example the genre characteristics are shown through the dance routine at the end of the video. The Mise-en-scene reflects the genre of pop due to the bright colours shown and the carefully chosen outfits. The lighting is always bright so this shows the genre because it helps to emphasise the positive connotations. Also the pace of the song highlights the pop genre as it’s quite upbeat. There are special effects within this video when the fireworks are shown. This shows the pop genre as bright colours are shown to light up the sky.

There is a strong link between the lyrics and the visuals. For example when the lyrics ‘there’s a chance for you’ are sung you see a boy suffering from cancer, so it’s as if she’s singing to him to give him self-confidence. Another strong example was when the lyrics ‘come on show ‘em what your worth’ this is when you see a boy trying to stop the violent argument between his parents so it’s as if she’s telling him to stand up for what he feels.

The music pace always matches the visuals. Within the verses the pace is much slower so it puts the point of the lyrics across which is emphasised because the chorus of the ‘fireworks’ is uplifting.

There are quite a few close ups to put across Katy Perry’s facial expression as that portrays the mood of the lyrics.

There is a vague amount of Intertextuality when the dance routine is shown at the end as it crosslink’s to the film Fame.

Overall we thought this video was the best because it had a meaning to it. Compared to the other videos, which were just natural or voyeurism to the females’ body.

By Nicola Gutteridge and

Abi Gourlay

Mercury Music Prize Task

GhostPoet

How do their clothes, hair, accessories, shoes influence your impression of them?

In the promotional image we studied we decided his clothes were smart/casual and quite basic so therefore this gives us the impression that he’s just an average man. He always wears a hat so this gives us the impression that this is the smart element in combination with his shoes. His expressions are always very serious which reflects that his lyrics will be quite meaningful and serious.

Can you tell what genre of music they make by the image?

Initially we thought that he would fit into the reggae/soul music genre due to the style/look he portrays. However we didn’t have a strong feeling about him fitting into this category. So we think he might be apart of a hybrid genre.

What does the composition of the image tell you about the artist?

The colours are quite washed out and simple. The lightings quite natural but its only on one side. So it reflects his mood and again empathising that he’s quite a serious guy. There are no props so this shows he’s the main focus and he likes to be basic and have the focus on the music. He’s positioned in the centre of the frame, which shows us that he’s the focus. He’s standing naturally so therefore he’s just an everyday guy who doesn’t care about his image, as he’s just got a passion for his music. The location is as if he’s in a college with a chalkboard behind. The chalkboard includes writing/scribbles, which are crossed out. This gives us the impression that he’s made mistakes in his past and his lyrics will reflect this.

Analysis of Music Video against Goodwins theory

From watching the video we realised that he doesn’t have any bold genre characteristics so this shows us that he falls in and out of different genres. An example of this is he vaguely shows rap characteristics as the focus is of him and his lyrics with no dance routines. The lyrics and visuals have a strong link throughout the music video. As the visuals are quite dark/dull this reflect his lyrics of the song as they are quite strong and on about surviving in a world that has cutbacks and conditions which are tough. 

Also it gives us the impression that he’s had a tough past. The link between the music and visuals are that they are both very basic so that you focus on the lyrics. It shows the emotion of the song by the simplicity of both the visuals and the music. Their weren’t many close ups of the artist although he was always on the screen. This shows he doesn’t want to be the centre of the attention, as he isn’t trying to enhance his image.  Due to the fact he fits vaguely into the rap genre there is no voyeurism. This is because again the focus is always the lyrics. There are no signs of intertextuality as the video is very basic. 

After watching the music video we were surprised. This is because we thought it would be more upbeat and lively. And include more than just him. We also expected the lyrics to be quite short and snappy so they would be catchy, however this wasn’t present.

Biography

The artists name is Obaro Ejimiwe and he has been in the industry since 2006. He works for Brownswood Recordings UK.

Word Justification

Here is our word justification for the the artist construction task.

The location we have chosen will be by one of the trees within the Long Road site. We have chosen to use this location because it’s quite simple so therefore the attention and focus will be on the artist. The image we are trying to create is a punk/rock image. So this will include bright colours, a bold outfit, outrageous hair and a simple location so therefore the focus is on the artist. We have decided the artist will be just to the right of the frame and it will be a long shot so that the audience can see the artist clearly. The outfit will be a punk styled dress, tights and shorts. We have chose this as then it will clearly reflect the genre of punk. As we are trying to show the punk genre the artists’ hair will be quite messy and eye catching. We have chosen not to use any props as we looked at existing punk album covers and props generally aren’t used. We have also decided that in Photoshop we will turn the image to black and white with a bit of colour in the title and the artist.  The colour theme will be quite bold but not varied so they are striking yet quite dull too. We feel as if this will put the image across to the audience that our artist fits into the punk genre. Overall the image we are trying to create will be to reflect the punk genre. From looking at examples of punk bands the image is to reflect the genre not the song, so therefore we will be aware of this when putting our poster together. The image overall will be quite simple however the thing which will make it stand out will be the artist due to the artist being in colour with the background dull. We think this will work well to sell the artist, as the audience will see that being comfortable in your own style is okay. 

Artist Construction Task

 Here is the task we did at the very beginning before creating our video. To learn the basic conventions needed etc.

Video Commentary

Evaluation Commentary

1) Our media products use forms and conventions of real media products. For example Goodwins points is a theory we followed in some aspects. For example 'genre characteristics' is the first point of the theory. We followed this as there wee shots of the artist an actor and an actress, we also have a narrative throughout. The next point is 'lyrics and visuals' we had a strong link as this was a strong focus. For example when the song states the 'stairs' the couple was on the stairs. And so we illustrated the lyrics. The music and visuals vaguely illustrative as both the song and the visuals were long and emotional. Next is the demands of the record label. We did this by having close ups of our artist, as it's need to sell artists. Our visual style from this was quiute basic as the focus was on the narratvie and the meaning of the song. Notion of looking was present as there were photo frames and the notions of looking at the couple/ the ghost. We made intertextual references to the taylor swift video 'mine' with the photos and the shots of the couple.

I developed the genre of the products conventions as in our genre there is a storyline, a variety of shot types, there  is clips which vary in brightness and contrast, good lip syncings, shots of the artist and actor/actresses. So we used these conventions and developed them to fit our song.

I took inspiration from various videos e.g. Taylor Swift 'Mine' inspired me to shoot in the past and present through photos. We used Rihanna 'Unfaithful' as inspiration with the use of photo montages and flashbacks. Beyonce 'Broken hearted girl' used black and white filters so this inspired me to do this to show the past and present. In her video she used the past to be black and white. However for ours we used it to be in the present to show the emotion of the guy on his own. The Leona Lewis video 'I got you' made me think of the framing positions as they always had the actor off centre. And finally we used the conventions in the leona lewis 'Foot prints in the sand' as it portrays so much emotion.

We also fitted the genre conventions in Our Ancillary texts. I did this by looking at existing products and then making sure we had these. These include, record label, dvd video logo, classification e.g. 12, the title of the artist, the title of the album, a quote e.g. from mtv, release date, hyperlinks, barcoding for digipak and bonus material for digipak.  

2) I feel as if all our products worked well together as they all portray the haunted, memories, and losing someone theme. So the emotion of our theme will promote our package. The concpet I was trying to communicate was the pure emotion of the lyrics. So therefore we did this with the contrast of the past and present. The image it creates for the artist is that the focus is in the lyrics and the emotion of the narrative within our video instead of using lots of shots of the artist. So this works as it fits the genre it's in. It will attract the target audience due to the emotion of the song being reflected both in the video and the digipak and magazine advert. Some viewers may be able to relate to this concept and narrative of losing they love. FInally they work as a package as we used the ethos of the video into digipak and magazine advert and therefore viewers will easily recognise them due to the use of black and white, haunted, non vibrant use of colouring.

3) Our initial pitch feedback made me learn several things. For example that we had a strong concept and storyline, with alot of footage possibilities. I also learnt from the feedback that in order for our haunted aspect to work I aould have to research techniques to use to clearly show the past and present.

In our rough cut feedback I learnt that I fitted the goodwins theory well. For example the lyircs and visuals were illustrative, music and visuals were long cuts so fitted the genre, shots of the artist made our video genre specific, and the ghost effect shows notions of looking. So I knew that Goodwins Theory was something we no longer need to really focus on.

Our rough cut feedback was that it looked like a 'home made movie' however we hadn't begun our editing at this point so from this we learnt we needed to focus on editing. I ws told over camera work was good; nice steady shots, good close ups of photos. So I learnt that our audience was pleased with my camerawork. The mise-en-scene was said to be really good, with good ranges of locations, photobook/photos were good. Props were great, they loved the sunset clip, good costumes, and finally some lighting was a little to dark. So overall this showd me that the amount of work I put into getting each aspect of the framing right was portrayed to the audience as the clips which were to dark was going to be editing anyway. Finally 'creativity and performance' feedback at the rough cut stage was that the pictures of the couple together makes it convincing, good contrast of couple together and apart makes it unique. So overall the amount of creativity and the performance was great so this learnt that my efforts payed off again. In conclusion the audience feedback at the rough cut stage was really good. When our teachers gave us feedback it was all positive. The teachers feedback taught me to use cross dissolve transitions to soften the clip changes, use colour corrector to make the past and present even more striking, overlay photos with cross dissolves to emphasise the memory aspect. Overall 'the storyline was very emotional which is great' is a quote taken from the teachers feedback this quote is significant as my aim was to portray the emotion of the storyline. So overall the feedback from the teachers taught me that overall the video is great I just need to concentrate on the editing to enhance it.

The final cut feedback also showed and taught me many things. Such as on the whole it was a great success. For example we fitted goodwins theory very well except 'the music and visuals were said not to match  however the cuts were in time with the music'. However they do match as they are both slowly paced. The feedback from the editing wsa all positive stating we showed the ghost aspect really well. The only thing in the editing section was said to be slightly negative saying the 'clips were too long' however we deliberately did this to show the emotion and pace of the song aswell as being reccommended by our teachers to use longer clips as it's such a slow paced song it wouldn't suit lots of cuts. From the mise-en-scene feedback it taught me that it was very successful. However it did state 'props were good but maybe to many were used' however again this was deliberate to show the memory aspect as it was a strong point of the concept. Finally the camera work was that it was very successful which is great. With the creativity and preformance it showed me that it was successufl too as the emotion was shown to the audience.

As well as our video we also recieved feedback for our magazine and digipak whilst creating. We used an image of the tree which I took during the photoshoot I did and whilst talking to my teacher I came up with the idea of adding an image of the couple on the front but fade the girl into the background slightly to give the haunted feel. With the digipak I then had  the idea of adding the artist into the background but having very faded to give a "where's wally effect" and playing with the 'magic eye'. So this feedback was the key to the success of both these products as this was where I created my ideas.

So overall the feedback was crucial as it showd me how to improve the product and exisiting positives we had. Finally it was crucial because it showed me the target audiences response as taught me that there opinions are vital and therefore it helped me to impoved and fit to their expectations.

4)  We used new media technologiues throughout this task whether it be in the research, planning or evaluation stage. All sources of these technologies helped to prepae and lead to a successful package of products. For example the use of blogger. allowed us to keep a diary of what we had done in each lesson and what we needed to do, so this was key to keeping us on track. As well as this it helped us blog our journey: our research and inspiration to show how we got to the stage of the final video. It also allowed us to recieve feedback, which was crucial to make sure that we fitted the audiences expectations.

The use of HD cameras helped to capture high quality clips which would lead to the success. They also helped us prepare by allowing us to do test footage and see if the concept would be shown nicely of the past and present. The Still cameras helped to create a series of high quality image for our digipak and magazine advert.

Final cut was used used to edit using filters such as colour corrector, which played a key part of showing the past and present. It helped show the creativity as we were able to use cross dissolves which helped to show the memory aspect and haunted aspect.

Photoshop also helped to create successful products. Such as being able to change the images into black and white, altering the hue and saturation and the brightness. It also helped to change the opacity. The use of photoshop lead to the success of the digipak and magazine advert as it helped to make them stand out from the crowd. It did this by allowing us to use filters to make the text seem haunted which was crucial as this was our conceopt. So in a sense it helped to link our ancilliary texts to our music video. So the use of photoshop maximised our creativty.

Creation of our commentary

Today we put our commentary all in order. So next lesson we will be editing it to a great standard.

Deadlines

The deadlines which are approaching are the following:

Editing commentary - on blog by Wednesday 14th December

Improve our individual evaluations - finialised by Monday 12th December

Blog Work - Finalised by Thursday 15th December

Directors Commentary

Today we filmed our commentary it was successful and we got a variety of clips, shots and footage in general to accompany voice overs and screen shots of our video.

For the next two lessons after today we shall be editing our footage and putting together our final directors commentary

The making of 'California Girls' Katy Perry video.

With this video you have the audio of the song in the background with the footage of the creation of the video with the scenes. There is speech of the artist speaking about the footage it then switches to the video and song and then back to the speech, so there is a variety.  Director = speech of the guy then shots of the footage then back, so a variety, when speaking the song is still in the background but quietly.

Most of the commentary is clips of the video instead of just the speaker talking. I think this works well as it means that you don't get bored of just listening. hand gestures are used too. When showing the intertextuality they have an image of the product which its inspired by or showing. Most of the footage of the people speaking aren't straight on they are at an angle.

So overall from this video commentary I have got a lot of inspiration. For example instead of having a lot of speech we can have an alternate from the speech to the video clips to make it more interesting. Also it showed that it works well to have the audio of the song playing when the speaker is talking. Also when filming the speaker we shall be filming at an angle instead of at an angle as it worked really well in this video.

Commentary script

Question 3 - What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

For our pitch feedback we were told that our haunted concept worked well as we had planned to show that the girl is dead but still show memories of the couple from when she was alive.  We were also told that we had a wide variety of possible footage to add into our video of the couple together, the guy mourning the loss of his girlfriend and lip syncing shots of the artist, which we had demomstrated in our storyboard. We were then told to research how we will show that some shots are in the past and some in the present so the music video doest become too confusing.
When we recieved our rough cut feedback, we were told that we had fitted the goowins points in well as we had added a lot of strong links between the lyrics and visuals for example when the song lyrics say "The steps on the stairs arent really there" we did a shot of stairs. We were told that to improve we should exaggerate the black and white effect when showing the memories of the couple to emphasize the difference of the past and present.
When we recieved our final cut feedback we were told that our editing was effective and created a strong ghostly feel although some people felt that some of our shots were too long even though we had purposely done this to show the emotion of the artist in relation to the lyrics. We were also told that our props, costumes and lighting were effective, all showing a ghostly but romantic feel.
We also recieved feedback for our magazine and digipak. We had a screenshot of a tree from our video on our covers and were told to add a picture of the couple on the front but fade the girl into the background slightly to give the haunted feel. We were also given the idea of adding the artist into the background but having very faded to give a "where's wally effect" .

Media Product evaluation

1) Our media product features many forms and conventions of real media products after researching other artists and previous students media products alomg with inspiration from goodwins points. Goodwins points was a key base when creating our music video. We focused mainly on the relationship between lyrics and visuals as the storyline of our music being about a guy who has lost his girlfriend thinking about past memories, matches the lyrics to our song. We also focused on the demands on the record label by showing close-ups of the artist and regular shots of the arist lip syncing. We also did this throughout the whole media product by using a "haunted" and "ghostly" theme within the video, magazine advert and digipak with the use of a black and white effect and blurring images. When researching artists media products I noticed there is always a theme used in their digipaks and magazine adverts taken from their videos, so this was an inspiariton for us.

2) I think the combination of our main product and ancillary texts is rather effective as they all work together as a promotional package with the use of a "haunting" theme used within the whole product, enabling the audience to recognise the theme and link it to the song. The theme witin our media product was used to create a concept of  "haunting", we decided as a group to do this as it matches the lyrics, title and meaning of the song. However, we then carried this on within our magazine adver and digipak to allow people to understand the genre and concept of the song and also to attract the right audience to the song through the advert and digipak. A very sensitive and depressed image is created of the artist as it is a strong link with the mood and meaning of the song and can also help the audience relate to the storyline of the video.

3) We recieved feedback on our roughcut from a teacher who suggested we added a lot more dissolves between cuts and to exaggerate the black and white effect when showing memries of the couple. We were told the whole idea of cutting from memories to then showing the depressed guy alone was effective and the suggestions we were given to increase the effectiveness of this idea definitelt worked well. This was shown when we recieved our final cut feedback as we were told by our peers that our editing was effective as it was clear and effective but also gave a ghostly feel which was what we wanted to portray. We were also told that the use of props, costumes and lighting were effective, all jelping to create a ghostly but romantic feel. Our feeback on goodwins points was all rather positive as well. We were told the strimg link between our lyrics and visuals was good as the song has a strong meaning. However, the artist could have shown more emotion like the couple.

4) We used a lot of new media tehnologies within the whole process of our media product. Throughout the  planning process blogger was a big help with keeping all our ideas together in one place and also with keeping all of our research together of other artists and previous students to help with our own inspiration. Final cut was then used to ut together our music video and to add effects which enabled us to put all our ideas into one project and create our video. We used the HD cameras to film the scenes in our videos, these allowed us to have a wide range of shots of our artist, actors and to also get good quality shots, for example the sun set towards the end of video. The internet was a huge help in our research of artists and also to help with gathering information on the real artist to our song, rihanna. Finally we used a lot of photoshop within the making of our media product which became useful when putting together our digipak and magazine advert as it allowed us to create our images to fit into our "haunted" theme.

Question Four Script

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

+ The use of blogger allowed us to keep a diary of what we had done in each lesson and what we needed to do, so this was key to keeping us on track. As well as this it helped us blog our journey: our research and inspiration to show how we got to the stage of the final video. It also allowed us to recieve feedback.

+ HD cameras helped to capture high quality clips which would lead to the success. Also helped when doing test footage.

+ Still cameras helpe to create a high quality image for our digipak and magazine advert.

+ Final cut - used to edit using filters such as colour corrector, which played a key part of showing the past and present. It helped show the creativity as we were able to use cross dissolves which helped to show the memory aspect and haunted aspect.

+ Photoshop - also helped to create a successful product. Such as being able to change the images into black and white, altering the hue and saturation and the brightness. It also helped to change the opacity. This is what made our digipak and magazine advert stand out. So the use of photoshop maximised our creativity.

Question Two Script

Me: The second question is 'how effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? So to begin with how all three work as a promotional package?
Chloe: They work exteremely well as a package as they all share the haunted aspect and the emotion from losing someone. So because of this haunted and emotional aspect it well promote our package as its bold and people will be able to relate to losing someone you love.
Me: Okay so what concept were you trying to communicate?
The concept we were trying to create is the pure emotion of the lyrics. We did this through the contrast of the past and present within our video. It is also shown through our ancillary texts. for example the digipak has a haunted image of the couple with the opacity quite low so therefore it looks haunted, and then the magazine advert has a faded image of Abi in the far distance which plays with the magic eye.
Me: What image do they create for your artist?
The image they create for the artist is that the focus of the artists songs will always be on the lyrics and the meaning of them. And also they show that the focus will always be on the narrative instead of dominating shots of the artist. This is shown through all our materials for example the video has a strong narrative, our digipak has no image of the artist but pictures of the haunted aspect as well as the magazine advert. So therefore this is the image we have created.
Me: How are they successful at attracting the audience?
Chloe: They will attract the audience very well due to the emotion of the song being reflected in all our products. And some viewers may be able to relate to the concept we have of the narative of losing someone they have. 
Chloe: Finally they work well together as we used the ethos of the video into the digipak and magazine advert and therefore viewers will easily recognise them due to the use of black and white, hautned, non vibrant use of colouring throughout all our products. 

Script for Question One

Chloe: 'in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real   media products?
Me: Well to start with we used the conventions of Goodwins theory. For example: 'Genre Characteristics - we followed the genre by having shots of abi, having a narrative of throughout and also having an actor and actress which was chris and I.
*screen shot of abi as artist and screen shot of chris and I*
Me: We had a strong link between the lyrics and visuals throughout as we thought the lyrics were so powerful and meaningful that if we stuck to the lyrics then it would reflect the amount of emotion within the lyrics. An example of how we did this was showing a shot of the couple together on the stairs and then a shot alone. This was when the song was saying 'footsteps on the stairs'. So our visuals were very illustrative of the lyrics.
*screen shot of the stairs bit*
Me: For the notions of looking this is will be through photo frames and also the notions of watching the couple.
*Shots of the photo frames*


GENRE OF THE PRODUCT!


Me: when looking at existing Rihanna videos and other artists such as Leona Lewis which fit into our genre I was shown that the videos generally include a storyline, different shot types, clips vary in brightness, good lip syncing, shots of the artist and actors and actresses. So therefore from this we made sure that our video included these. 


*screen shots of these*


Me: After looking at various existing videos I got a lot of useful inspiration. Such as Taylor Swifts video 'mine' I got the inspiration of the shots going back and forward from the past to the present. also the photo aspects. Beyonce broken hearted girl had flashbacks in black and white, which showed the emotion. I thought this would work well with our video of showing Chris alone in the present to show hes lonely and sad.


*screen shot these videos*


Our Ancillary texts also match the conventions. We did this by looking at existing products and then making sure we had these. These include, record label, dvd video logo, classification e.g. 12, the title of the artist, the title of the album, a quote e.g. from mtv, release date, hyperlinks, barcoding for digipak and bonus material for digipak.  

Question 3 Script points

3)

PITCH FEEDBACK

+ haunted concept will work well
+ will have variety of possible footage
+ research how will show the past and present

ROUGH CUT FEEDBACK
+ we fitted the goodwins points well
+ lyrics and visuals were illustrated
+ music and visuals were illustrated
+ shots of the artist fit the genre
+ ghost effect = notions of looking

FINAL CUT FEEDBACK

+ fitted goodwins points well
+ music and visuals didnt match but cuts were in time with the music
+ lyrics and visuals matched well
+ editing was all fine but long cuts - which we did on purpose to show the emotion and lyrics
+ props were good and a variety
+ romantic locations were good

Creative Use Of Technology

Overall I feel as if I  have used the technology available very creatively. From producing the work to editing.

For example I did the filming of the music video except the lip syncing which I was still present at. When using the HD camera I nade sure I was using the technology in a creative way by ensuring the mise-en-scene was correct the angle of the shot and type of shot was creative and would fit the genre. So therefore I feel as if the result portrays my creativiity.

Also when using the still cameras I made sure the frame positioning and everything within mise-en-scene was considered in order to capture a high quality creative image.

I also did the editing and created ideas which were unique and which would stand out. For example changing the image to black and white, experimenting with the hue,saturation, brightness, contrast etc. Using filters available in photoshop, and experimenting with the opacity of images. So not only was I creative in the production of the work I also ensured that I used the software of the technology creatively too in order to achieve a bold and unique set of promotional package materials.

Analysis of Students Directors Commentary.

http://vimeo.com/8095587

This groups commentary was actually filmed on the location of where their video was filmed. This works really well as they are able to point to the location for example the grafitti wall and also when talking about the lighting they are able to point to their source of lighting which works really well and shown that they have thought about the location of this commentary extremely well. It's a really interesting commentary in which I enjoyed listening to due to the hand gestures, the fact you can see they had learnt their lines/ know what they were going to say before they filmed, which is reflected in their performance which makes it interesting.

Also the fact they used screen grabs and video clips of their inspiration works really well as it gives you a picture/idea of how they were inspired to create their video and digipaks. When talking about what technologies they used they had screen shots of blogger, photoshop, final cut and this works really well to show a step by step journey which they took instead of just simply talking which would be quite boring.

I like the fact they switch between speakers so you don't hear just a constant voice the whole time too. I feel as if they had just the right amount of detail within this commentary as you learn alot about their journey and the video.

Overall this is a great and interesting commentary compared to the rest which I saw which had just a group sitting in a class room speaking with the same speaker the whole time. You can clearly see that they planned their commentary and script well as it pays off to be a very successful commentary.