Final Post

Blog is finally closed!

Thank you for taking the time to look over it.

GOODBYE MEDIA!!!!!!

Evaluation Question 1

Question One - In what ways does your music video and Digipak use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Copy of Evaluation Question One on Prezi

Evaluation Question 2

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your music video, your digipak and album advert?

I felt it was important to create obvious and professional synergy between my music video, my digipak and album advert. One way I thought I could achieve this was through the band logo.

As shown previsiously in my blog, I really liked this image that I found on http://www.weheartit.com/.

I used this image as a template for my logo for Hunt The Noise. The text font appeals to our target audience because it uses a strong, bold font representing our empowered female artists. Capitalising the text represents the strength, power and confidence of our artists.

I used this logo on my digipak and album advert and also included it in our music video.

The effect of this means that the fans and target audience recognise something familiar. It creates a brand and an image for Hunt The Noise.
One way I could have improved this synergy would have been spacing the letters to the "box" as in my digipak and album advert. However, as individual members of our group used a different style of logo, we needed to compromise our decision making, so the text in the video isn't fully justified to the edges of the page.

Another way to create an effective combination between my music video, digipak and album cover is through the colours and images used.

I used the scenery images from our early filming to create my front, back and insides of my digipak and also the image for my album advert.

I used this image for my digipak cover

I also used this image for my album advert. The final product was this:

AND

The effect of having similar images meant that again, the audience and fans saw a familiar pattern throughout the bands promotion and marketing. Also, for people that do not follow the band, it creates a link and almost subconciously makes the band familiar and apparent to them.
I chose this particular image for my digipak and magazine advert because the low angle shot creates the impression of an overwhelming urban setting, infringing on 'the individual' in the city. I wanted to convey the feeling of 'youth' transgressing the boundaries of society.

I deliberately chose a 'typewriter' font for my magazine advert because it conveys a 'retro' feel. The lack of capital letters in my magazine cover juxtaposes with the bold capital letters in my music video. This 'clash' represents the struggles of youth vs adulthood.

I deliberately avoided using images of the female artists in my digipak and magazine advert because I wanted to underpin the theme of 'hidden identity' in my music video.  My concept is that the female DJs are unknown to our audience. In terms of branding, this creates an Enigma Code (Barthes) and adds to the exclusivity of our artists. As our band is from the 'Alternative Indie' genre, we are avoiding the over-exposure and 'star image' of pop music bands, who are recognises purely for their appearance and 'celebrity status.' 

Evaluation Question 3

Question 3 - How did you use media technology in the construction and research and planning stages of your music video?

Evaluation Question 4

Question 4 - What have you learnt from audience feedback?

For audience feedback, I mainly used social networking sites as it produced fast and honest responses. It enabled people to comment and vote as and when the logged on and this established an informal tone which I believe made people more willing to take part.

In the image above, you can see that I have uploaded six images to my Facebook profile. They are all potential album covers for my digipak. I asked people to comment and "like" images that they thought were suitable and appropriate for my Digipak.

This is an example of an image with comments and "likes". Other media students commented and gave reasons why they thought it was best suited.

For the name of our band, we went round and asked people to vote on the name they thought was best for a band of three DJs. I put these results into a chart and as you can see Hunt The Noise came out on top. Creating a chart meant it was easy to see the results and was also a more asthetically pleasing visual aid for my blog. It also furthered my digital technology skills.

We also created a Twitter page for a band where we post links to ideas and drafts of our video. This again enabled fast responses that were easy to access. It made sharing ideas easier and simpler. This is a method used by lots of artists. Here is my analysis and example of JME's twitter.

Here are some responses we got, with extremely positive reactions. 

At the beginning of the course, we also pitched our idea to our media class to gain their ideas.

Here is the prezi and also our pitch to the class.

Copy of media on Prezi

Advantages of doing this means students can verbally describe what the liked/didn't like rather than filling out a sheet of paper and also we could visually show our ideas rather than just speak about them.

Survey

I also created a survey for people to fill out. I asked a sample of 30 individuals, 15 male and 15 female, aged between 13 and 22.

The benefits of a survey are that you have a printed record of results, there are closed answers making results easier to record and confidential.

Here is an example of my survey:

And here are my results:

1. Who do you think this music video was aimed at? (age)

As the results show, our target audience was evident from our music video. This was helpful audience feedback as it meant that we did not have to change our video to suit the age we were targeting. 

2. What genre would you class this video as?

Again, this survey shows that our intended genre was the most dominant in our results however, there may have been confusion with electro. If we had the chance to do our music video again, we may have chosen a different song if we were adamant on keeping an indie/alternative genre.  

3. Did you understand the concept of youth freedom and the idea of hidden identity?

It also came out clear that some of the concepts we wanted to reflect were understood which was positive feedback.

4. Was the narrative clear to you?

A main issue we had with our music video was that not many people understood the narrative however the main comment was "you don't need to understand - the aesthetics make up for it." This was good audience feedback as we was worried whether people would get it, but luckily that didn't seem important. 

5. Did the Digipak tie in with the video?

From my results, it is evident that the vast majority agreed that my Digipak fitted with my music video however one disagreed. I asked this individual why they disagreed and they thought that the image was only quickly used in the video however they did understand the urban link.

6. Did the album advert tie in with the video?

It is clear from my results, that my album advert tied in well with my music video. This was helpful audience feedback as it ensured that my album advert has the desired affect I wished to achieve.

7. Did the teaser video we created entice you?

We thought it would be a really good idea to create a teaser video, much like the Justin Bieber one I spoke about in a previous post. The survey results show that the majority of people asked thought that it was a good idea and they wanted to see the rest of the video.

I also filmed 3 individuals to get some more audience feedback.

Again I got really positive feedback from this and to make it better I should have put them in it!

This type of audience feedback is really helpful as it enables individuals to really explain how they felt about the video rather than circling yes or no on a sheet of a paper.

Final Film

HERE IS OUR FINAL FILM! YAY!

We hope you enjoy.

Teaser Video

Recently, Justin Bieber has released "teasers" for his new video Boyfriend. We really liked this idea and thought we would try and attempt one ourselves and see if it worked.

Here are the examples of Justin Bieber's teasers and the finally the one we created ourselves. We will gain some audience feedback on the idea and whether it actually enticed our intended audience.

Lip Syncing

After editing our music video, we worried that we did not have enough lip syncing/performance and therefore decided to film some more. We took the inspiration of our lip syncing from Example - Stay Awake and here is his video:

We really liked the close up shots that Example uses for his performance element and we decided to recreate this - we tried using black and white, however it did not fit with our music video and for that reason we used a different colour wash over each lip syncing clip.

To achieve our lip syncing, we simply set up the camera with a spotlight and Yasemin stood infront of a whiteboard. We played the song along with her singing so she could hear the lyrics and get the timing perfect.

To change the colour of the clip, we changed the exposure, gradient and saturation and also messed around with how much of red, green and blue pigament were visable in the clip.

Here is our set up:

RichMix Collective Identity Trip

Recently, myself and my media class took a trip to RichMix for a conference on collective identity. I found this conference extrememly helpful as Pete Fraiser, took us through the exam step by step and how to answer the questions.

Here is the presentation he used.

G325 exam

View more presentations from petefrasers

We was then lucky enough to meet the co-creator and script writer for The Inbetweeners.

We were taught about what it is like to work in the TV industry and his inspiration behind the series.

 

Final Footage

Today we collected our final footage to finish our music video.

We researched what time the sun would be setting on the day and timed it so we would be at our location in time for it. We chose the top of a carpark for our location so we could get a wide shot of the sunset with the flats in the background. This way we hoped to combine the urban feel with the professional looking shots.

99 Problems - Jay Z - Scene Shots

Here is Jay-z's legendary music video for 99 Problems. We looked at this video for inspirtation for our scene shots and timinig. We also wanted to see if it worked to have scenic shots with lip syncing added in between.

Representations Essay

Select one production and evaluate in relation to representation

               

            Representations in music videos tell us about the world, but they mediate reality: they represent idea for audiences. For a representation to be meaningful there needs to be shared ideas and beliefs. In my A2 music video, I paid extreme attention to the representations of youth that I portrayed and achieved this through focusing on visual and technical codes.

            Ann Gould suggested six key stereotypes of youth representation in the media. One of these included a self-destructive stereotype and I believe that this would be of our oppositional reading. At the beginning of our music video we show a montage illustrating the relationship between our lead female and an unidentified male. An extreme close up, point of view shot, shows our character peering through a wine bottle. The image outside the bottle is distorted, this was achieved by using a field depth tool. Our preferred reading is to obtain the assumption that the bottle represents her entrapment and the distorted outside world represents the world which she wishes to be and does not belong. However, due to the stereotypes that Ann Gould suggests, our oppositional reading would be that our character is under the influence of alcohol, hence the blurred image and therefore being "self-destructive".

           Another representation that I tried to put forward was the idea of freedom and this was my preferred reading. I used an extreme close up of the wine bottle previously shown smashing against a wall. I wanted to represent the bottle smashing as our main character finally getting her freedom and escaping her trapped world. However, looking at the idea of Ann Gould's stereotypes of youth being self destructive and violent, the oppositional reading is easy to see. It would be that the youth abuse alcohol and violent.

           I also tried to represent youth by celebrating their age and culture. As our artist, the three DJs, have hidden identities and I decided to use children's masks. The colourful, animal masks represent the inner child in the youths that we are trying to represent. However, the artists have specifically been put in costumes that show legs and stomachs. Laura Mulvey would argue that this is called male gaze - the girls body's are used to be objectified and for men's display. Moreover, the camera is focused on the bodies and the faces are out of focus. However, our preferred reading was that we are simple embracing youth, celebrating it's culture and playing on the idea of hidden identity.

            The end of our music video shows a wide shot of our main character from over the shoulder on top of a building. This is then followed by a series of black and white shots which should be interrupted (preferred reading) by the audience as flashbacks. It then returns to the wide shot prior the flashbacks with the lead character missing. This leaves an enigma code, as Roland Barthes would suggest as the text is open, and it is for the audience to decide whether she has killed herself or not. The representation that was intended through this end scene was that the youth are humanised – almost like they have feelings too. However, feminists would argue that this represents female weakness (oppositional reading) due to the fact that she has possibly ended her life over male supremacy.

Production Journal

MONTAGE 

So we have finally finished our montage for the opening of our music video. We are all perfectionists so it has taken a while to get it exactly how we want it. We took inspiration for videos like Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved and Rihanna - We Found Love. They both began with something to set the storyline, that was separate to the actual music. Here are the videos we looked at and our final video.

For the diegetic sound over the montage (the wind and police siren) we used a website called LGFL audio network. It is a website avaliable to schools to download free sounds effects without the issues of copyright.

We used the sounds "arctic winds" and "zen" layered over each other.

Magazine Advert

Here is my magazine advert that I made for my band Hunt The Noise.

Image: I used the same image that I used for my digipak front cover to create familiarity for my audience. It is a strong image with bold primary colours. It represents the Youth Culture that we explore in our music video and also the urban/ghetto life we are trying to persue. Moreover, one of our main concepts in our video is the idea of hidden identity and I believe that the tower blocks illustrate this well. They do this through the idea that even though you live in the same block of flats as certain people, you haven't encountered them before and therefore their identity is hidden to you. The single lamp-post also represents the single female lead in our music video and I also represented this in my back cover of my digipak.

Font: I used two fonts for my advert, similar to Noah and The Whale's magazine advert. I used the smooth font for "HUNT THE NOISE" which was the same one I used for my digipak. I done this for familiarity and also as it feel its feets my genre. I then used a font that looks like a type writer as this is again similar to what I used for my digipak. It also looks youthful, fitting with our concept.

Colour: I took the idea for my advert from a Marc Jacobs advert and thats the reason I have used a strong image at the top with bold primary colours, a white background and black text. The colours are still quite natural but are strong and represent the fun of the youth.

Editing on the 09/03/12

Today we have exported our video so that we can edit in Final Cut Express. We are using the "aspect ratio" tool to have the black screens opening on our main character running.

Here is a video where Lana explains how we used Final Cut Express

Audience Theory

AUDIENCE THEORY

1. What, or Who, is an audience?

An audience is a gathering of listeners; the people addressed by a piece of media such as a newspaper, magazine, television, DVD, radio or the internet. Any device such as a mobile phone, ipod are also able to carry and distribute the media texts. A media text is planned with a specific audience in mind, our music video is targeting youths andyoung adults, we are likely to have video published on YouTube and high status channels such as MTV.

2. Audience Research 1 - Demographics

This is a statistical data relating the population and popular groups within it, they define these groups by their income and status. It is clear to see by looking at the chart below that our music video will be targeting Group B – “Creative and media people” andGroup E “Unemployed, students, pensions, casual workers”. This is due to us appealing to people who tend to watch music videos of unique style e.g. media people and also those youths who tend to be unemployed or students.

These demographics are based on the National Readership Survey’s social-economic grades – www.nrs.co.uk

3. Audience Research 2 - Psychographics

This is the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations and other psychological criteria, allowing an assessment to be made on their viewing and spending habits.

The advertising agency Young and Rubican invented a successful psychographic profile known as their 4C’s Marketing Model – www.4cs.yr.com

4C = Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation

4. Hierarchy of Needs

American psychologist, Maslow suggested we all have different layers of needs and that we have to achieve a certain amount until we move onto the next layer. The necessities are be able to eat and sleep in safety before we move onto more complexneeds e.g. getting married.

The top of his pyramid states ‘Self actualisation’, which is the realisation or fulfilment of one’s talents and potentialities. 

Maslow's theory can be seen to be related to media, particularly advertisers andinstitution that carry advertising. These advertisers and institutions must know how to grab the audience's attention by certain media texts by increasing their self esteemand earning the respect from others if they consume these products. 

5. Audience Research 3

Specialist companies often investigate audiences in order to retrieve necessary information about them to report back to media producers. Audiences, however, have been proven to be far too sophisticated and are undifferentiated to a media stimulus - they are in fact, passive. Audience is an unquestioning, powerless mass that have no choice but to be influenced. The pre-conceptions of the audience can act as a powerful filter of media messages. However, this theory has been judged for being too simplistic and does not take into consideration people's individuality. 

6. Audience Theory 2 - Cultivation Theory

This theory also treats the audience as passive, suggesting that repeated exposureto the same message (advertisement) can put an imprint into the audience's attitudes and values. De-sensitisation = makes someone feel less shocked or distressedat scenes of cruelty, violence or suffering by over exposure to such images. However, this theory has also been judged as there is no real evidence that this leads audiences to being less shocked by real violence/killings. 

7. Audience Theory 3 - Two Step Flow Theory

Katz and Lazarsfeld assume a more active audience, suggesting that the messages from the media move in two different ways. Individuals who are opinion leadersreceive messages from the media and pass on their on interpretation in addition to the actual content. It is filtered through the opinion leaders who then pass it on to a morepassive audience. The audience mediate the information recieved directly from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by opinion leaders and that is how it turns out to be a 'two step flow', not a direct process. This can be compared to Twitterwhere we are able to 'Follow' people and see the latest 'Trends', all these influences have an effect on our attitudes towards media text. 

8. Audience Theory 4 - Active Audiences

This is the active audience is newer and more realistic than the older model- it sees the audience as individuals who interact with the communication process and use media texts for their own gratification and purposes. 

"We behave differently because we are different people from different background with many different attitudes, values, experiences and ideas"

9. Audience Theory 5 - Uses and Gratifications Model

This model suggests that media audiences are active and make active decisions about what they consume in relation to what they appeal to (socially, culturally). This also shows that certain groups are isolated, whereas others are grabbed depends on what they like (e.g. music genre). Blumier and Katz summed this up:

"Media usage can be explained in that it provides gratifications (meaning it satisfies needs) related to the satisfaction of social and psychological needs"

Audiences choose to watch programmes that make them feel good, our music video will have elements of escapism and feminism within it and our target audience will watch it to gain a sense of gratification as well as information. 

Blumier and Katz (1975)

 - Surveillance: our need to know what is going on (in relation to Maslow's security theory). Also able to keep up to date with dangers and news in order to satisfy our curiosity and feel safer. In link with our music video, it will be a very modern take on the song we are doing, our audience may appeal to it simply for curiosity of what costumes we will be wearing. 

- Personal Relationship/Social Interaction: our need to interact with others. Our audience for our music video may form a virtual relationship with the character in our video as she/he may sympathise with them. 

- Personal Identity: our need to define our identity and sense of self. Our music video is completely in link with this criteria, as it is based on youths discovering their true selfs and the conflict between teenager and adult.

- Diversion: the need for escape, entertainment and relaxation. Our music video will hopefully bring a sense of satisfaction to our viewers and they will enjoy watching it recreationally.

Magazine Advert

Here is Noah and The Whale's album advert for "The First Days of Spring".

Image: The image used for this advert covers the entire page, rather than in a box and is of the four band members. However, three of them are out of focus and the main singer is in focus and in the foreground of the image. The image is very natural and doesn't looked staged with no special effects or editing.

Font: The fonts used on the advert differ between two. An Edwardian Script like font is used for the title of the album and then a very simple and plain font is used for the band name and all the important information like release date and where you can get hold of it. Reviews are also featured on the advert as a recommendation of the album.

Colour: The colours used within the advert are very natural and this fits the image of the band. They are very simple and produce "pure" and acoustic type music. The colours are very earthy, e.g, greens, blues, skin tones, yellows, whites etc. The soft black writing is then used over the top to stand out but still seem quite natural.

This is Thirty Seconds To Mars magazine advert for their album "This Is War".

Image: There is no real "image" within this advert however there are symbols and shapes used. A faint triangle is used in the background under the writing and then three circular symbols follow this. These four images are associated with the band and are used for familiarity. 

At the top of the page, the album title takes up the majority of the page and it is clear that the band want the word "war" to be the main focus. This could be for many reasons, including that the may want to cause controversy. The image is also boxed perhaps suggesting that the idea is "closed" and there is no room for discussion that there is no war.

Font: A strong and simple font is used in this magazine advert. The writing, band name and album title are all capital letters. The most important things are larger in size, e.g, when the album is released and what is included. There is no reviews on the advert amd this may suggest that the band are so well known and successful that they don't need it.

Colour: There is a clear theme of red, black and white in this magazine advert. These are very strong colours that perhaps illustrate the "war". Black representing death, red representing blood and anger and the white representing purity and innocence. These colours are also commonly used with the band so it offers a sense of familiarity to the audience.

Here is a Marc Jacobs advert that I am using as inspiration for my magazine advert. I really like how it is extremely simple and the colours are plain and not too fussy.  I also like how the writing stands alone and that there isnt too much going on in the advert itself where as in the Thirty Seconds To Mars advert it was quite busy and "in-your-face". The Noah and The Whales magazine advert was much closer to what I wanted to achieve with the simple ideas and also the two different fonts. 

In the Marc Jacobs advert I also liked how the picture stood alone at the top of the page. I also felt the image was strong enough to use by itself and I am looking to create this by using a strong image in my advert.