To present our evaluation, we created a Prezi, briefly pointing out the issues I have discussed individually on my blog.
The link to view this prezi is below:
http://prezi.com/usia9rfxyt3p/a2-media-evallation/
Thursday, 31 March 2011
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Blogger
Since September, when we first began our A2 Media Studies course, I have been user Blogger to record my progress and present my research, planning and evaluation. I have used Blogger as a safe area to keep all my thoughts and ideas to represent my creativity and abilities in Media technologies. It has helped me an awful lot when I have ever needed to reflect back over my work or my previous ideas as I have always been able to refer back to my Blogger and find any of the previous work I had done. My blog has been completed by me and only me, whereas the media product I have created was done in a group. Therefore Blogger has really allowed me to express my views and ideas and allow my creativity and abilities to shine through as an individual. My own personal abilities in using Blogger have also developed. I began using Blogger at the beginning of my AS Levels for Media Studies. I was very unsure of what to blog, when to blog and also how to blog. I am now very confident in this and have creatively thought up my own blogging ideas. I have gathered photos, print screen images, videos and other texts to show my research and planning. I use my blog like a diary to record everything I have done in the production and research stages. It helped me a lot when it came to evaluating my work and my own performance, as I was able to read back over everything I have done and gather sufficient information in order to produce a good quality evaluation.
Camera
To make my blog informative and to fully represent my findings and ideas, I often used a digital camera to take images of locations, costume choices and actors etc. Taking these photographs allowed me to produce solid evidence of my personal plans. It allowed me to show that I had thought through everything I had done, had planned out everything that I would do in the future, and just made my blog much more efficient and informative. Taking images of locations allowed me to see whether these places looked good on camera as sometimes things look very scenic when you are there, but the camera does not always pick this up. Therefore I was able to eliminate or agree with specific locations based on the outcomes of these photos. We also used camera to take images of me that we would use to create our Digipack and Advert (ancillary texts). As our video was pop genre and therefore very artist focused, I also wanted my Digipack and advert to be artist focused to coincide with this. Therefore the need for photographs of me was essential.
Apple MAC
Each group was assigned a MAC in order to be able to carry out the editing stages of our main product. On the MAC there was a specific software installed (iMovie HD) that we needed to use to edit our videos. The MACs allowed us to save the video as a file that would be compatible with Youtube, so that we could upload the video on here and become distributors of media.
iMovie HD
I used iMovie HD to edit our video. It is a software that through practice I have become very confident using and so therefore took on a lead role in editing the video. Without this advanced software, we would have been unable to put our clips in any kind of order. We needed to do this to, add effects, sync miming, include audio and split clips. It was basically the actual production of the music video, the place where everything was put together and ordered. The effects we used were, lighting changes, flash effects, darkening saturation to set the mood, slow motion etc. All of these things were done to increase the impact of the video and to establish the mood. We also included transitions which allowed our cuts from scene to scene to run a lot smoother. This was important as we wanted the video to flow evenly throughout. We used lighting effects to represent emotions and establish the mood.
YouTube
YouTube was used by me in the research and planning stages of creating my media product. It not only allowed us to research other video and gain a better understanding of our genres stereotype but also audience expectations. We learnt a lot using YouTube as it was our main source of locating real media products to develop these ideas and incorporate them into our own.
Not only did YouTube allow us to carry out research and learn a lot about what we should include in our music video, we were also able to use YouTube to share our own work. We became media distributors through the use of YouTube when we uploaded our video onto this site.
Facebook
We used this social networking site to plan. Often as a group we would have conversations on Facebook about times we would meet, what we would film and also to discuss any ideas we had. We only get 5 hours lesson time, and so the rest of the time is up to us to find a way to continue outside of lesson time. Therefore Facebook became very convenient as a method to discuss in a three way conversation, something which cannot be done via text etc. And therefore we were able to get everybody in our groups input which was very useful. We would often plan dates and times of meeting and would then post these conversations on our blogs to provide evidence of our planning skills.
We also used Facebook to gather feedback. We posted our video as a status and asked for people to leave their comments. Another way we could share our work and distribute our media product. This processed allowed us to gain a better understanding of audience perception of our video and we were therefore able to make good improvements as on Facebook you can reach a very wide variety of people in a very short space of time.
Video Camera
To make a music video, we needed to film scenes to fill the entirety of the song. To do this, we used a school provided video camera. We was assigned a specific camera and memory so that all of our filming could be together in one place. Without this camera, we would not have been able to create a music video and so this was an essential piece of equipment.
Since September, when we first began our A2 Media Studies course, I have been user Blogger to record my progress and present my research, planning and evaluation. I have used Blogger as a safe area to keep all my thoughts and ideas to represent my creativity and abilities in Media technologies. It has helped me an awful lot when I have ever needed to reflect back over my work or my previous ideas as I have always been able to refer back to my Blogger and find any of the previous work I had done. My blog has been completed by me and only me, whereas the media product I have created was done in a group. Therefore Blogger has really allowed me to express my views and ideas and allow my creativity and abilities to shine through as an individual. My own personal abilities in using Blogger have also developed. I began using Blogger at the beginning of my AS Levels for Media Studies. I was very unsure of what to blog, when to blog and also how to blog. I am now very confident in this and have creatively thought up my own blogging ideas. I have gathered photos, print screen images, videos and other texts to show my research and planning. I use my blog like a diary to record everything I have done in the production and research stages. It helped me a lot when it came to evaluating my work and my own performance, as I was able to read back over everything I have done and gather sufficient information in order to produce a good quality evaluation.
Camera
To make my blog informative and to fully represent my findings and ideas, I often used a digital camera to take images of locations, costume choices and actors etc. Taking these photographs allowed me to produce solid evidence of my personal plans. It allowed me to show that I had thought through everything I had done, had planned out everything that I would do in the future, and just made my blog much more efficient and informative. Taking images of locations allowed me to see whether these places looked good on camera as sometimes things look very scenic when you are there, but the camera does not always pick this up. Therefore I was able to eliminate or agree with specific locations based on the outcomes of these photos. We also used camera to take images of me that we would use to create our Digipack and Advert (ancillary texts). As our video was pop genre and therefore very artist focused, I also wanted my Digipack and advert to be artist focused to coincide with this. Therefore the need for photographs of me was essential.
Apple MAC
Each group was assigned a MAC in order to be able to carry out the editing stages of our main product. On the MAC there was a specific software installed (iMovie HD) that we needed to use to edit our videos. The MACs allowed us to save the video as a file that would be compatible with Youtube, so that we could upload the video on here and become distributors of media.
iMovie HD
I used iMovie HD to edit our video. It is a software that through practice I have become very confident using and so therefore took on a lead role in editing the video. Without this advanced software, we would have been unable to put our clips in any kind of order. We needed to do this to, add effects, sync miming, include audio and split clips. It was basically the actual production of the music video, the place where everything was put together and ordered. The effects we used were, lighting changes, flash effects, darkening saturation to set the mood, slow motion etc. All of these things were done to increase the impact of the video and to establish the mood. We also included transitions which allowed our cuts from scene to scene to run a lot smoother. This was important as we wanted the video to flow evenly throughout. We used lighting effects to represent emotions and establish the mood.
YouTube
YouTube was used by me in the research and planning stages of creating my media product. It not only allowed us to research other video and gain a better understanding of our genres stereotype but also audience expectations. We learnt a lot using YouTube as it was our main source of locating real media products to develop these ideas and incorporate them into our own.
Not only did YouTube allow us to carry out research and learn a lot about what we should include in our music video, we were also able to use YouTube to share our own work. We became media distributors through the use of YouTube when we uploaded our video onto this site.
We used this social networking site to plan. Often as a group we would have conversations on Facebook about times we would meet, what we would film and also to discuss any ideas we had. We only get 5 hours lesson time, and so the rest of the time is up to us to find a way to continue outside of lesson time. Therefore Facebook became very convenient as a method to discuss in a three way conversation, something which cannot be done via text etc. And therefore we were able to get everybody in our groups input which was very useful. We would often plan dates and times of meeting and would then post these conversations on our blogs to provide evidence of our planning skills.
We also used Facebook to gather feedback. We posted our video as a status and asked for people to leave their comments. Another way we could share our work and distribute our media product. This processed allowed us to gain a better understanding of audience perception of our video and we were therefore able to make good improvements as on Facebook you can reach a very wide variety of people in a very short space of time.
Video Camera
To make a music video, we needed to film scenes to fill the entirety of the song. To do this, we used a school provided video camera. We was assigned a specific camera and memory so that all of our filming could be together in one place. Without this camera, we would not have been able to create a music video and so this was an essential piece of equipment.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
The main improvements that we received from our audience feedback were the following:
Peer Assessment
When asked whether they enjoyed the music video or not and asked to rate it out of 10 100% of candidates rated our video 8/10 or above. We then asked them what the liked about the video. These were there responses; good storyline, actors were very convincing and had good chemistry, my convincing role as Kelly Clarkson, and the good variety of mise-en-scene and camera angles throughout the video. When asked whether they felt the story line fitted the song, 100% of the candidates agreed that it did. When asked if the actor who played the artist fitted her role again many commented on the many similarities that myself and Kelly Clarkson share. They said that I had done a good job with the miming and playing that characters role. When asked if the actors fitted their role, 100% of the responses were positive and said the actors had good chemistry and had good acting abilities. We then asked if people enjoyed the video and if they were fans of Kelly. 100% of people asked did in fact enjoy the video even if they were not previously fans of her music. When asked on suggestions for improvements the general comments included adding more of a variety of camera angles, sorting out the dodgy zooming within clips and adding a range of shot.
From the peer assessment that we received, we noticed that people were a little more complimentary and less critical as they were our friends and therefore did not feel comfortable criticising our video. However, they all said they had enjoyed it, the actors were good and they liked the storyline, which is a very successful outcome. They also suggested some improvements which were all things that we had already noticed such as the accidental zooming etc. This feedback was very reassuring that people enjoyed our video, however there was one person who said add a bigger variety of camera angles. When we went back to our music video we did do this. You will see scenes of me on the stairway in my house, with very high angle shots and low angle shots. We felt this would mix it up and keep it current and would also satisfy those of the audience who had suggested this as an improvement.
- Some shots unsteady- inappropriate zoom/wobbly camera
- Random horse appears in the background
- More abusive husband scenes
- Slippers featured in a scene - unnecessary
- Some framing issues
The good features pointed out from our audience feedback were the following:
- Very good lip syncing throughout
- Steady shots
- Match strike from Eddie- effective and made an impact
- Variety of mise-en-scene was good
- Variety of camera angles was good and coincided with the fast pace scene cuts.
- Good contrast in brightness and darkness of scenes, represented two sides of the story and really emphasised the mood.
- Storyline fitted the song well
- Flashback scene creative and dramatic. Created impact on viewer.
After analysing the feedback, looking into the improvements that had been suggested were our first concern as, shortly after receiving this feedback we would be re-evaluating our video and making any amendments we felt necessary. Therefore it was good to get a second hand opinion that was completely neutral and unbiased. We looked through the improvements and hoped that there would be the time and availability to amend each one however there were some constrainsts that we faced which meant that we were unable to do this.
Firstly, the random horse was clearly something that was noticable and quite distracting to the viewer, as virtually every group who reviewed ou video, mentioned this horse and questioned it purpose. Although this was something we really wanted to remove because of the audiences reaction, we were unable to as on the software we were using, you cannot crop the video clip and we were therefre unable to cut the horse out of the frame. We learnt a lot from this however as when it came to refilming other scenes, we were much more aware of our surroundings and our abilities to frame a shot was imporved because of this.
Some of the shots were unsteady, this was something that we had already noticed and its significance in the video was validated by the audience feedback we received where a few groups mentioned this. This was something we knew that we absolutely had to change and so therefore organised a few more days of filming so that we could re-film scenes that would allow us to replace these inadequate clips. We knew that we would proabably have had to have done this before we got our audience feedback, however this just reassured us that we must rectify these scenes.
To shine light on the positive feedback it was clear to see that we had overall managed to impress our critics. They were very honest in their answers. They mentioned how they liked the way we established the mood through the use of lighting. This was an editing technique I had incorporated to establish the depressive state of the abused wife. It was good to see that the audience had picked up on this and we had therefore succeeded in using editing techniques to establish a mood.
After creating the "flashback scene" I showed it to my mother and asked what she thought of it. she said that there were too many flashes and that because of this, it did not look as effective as you were just distracted by the flashing lights on the screen rather than the content of this flashback. I therefore decided to reduce the number of flashes per second to just 1 so that it could have a better impact on the viewer. They would be able to notice the flashes and recognise this effect but also be aware of the content of the flashback, which was the most important part. When I then collected the class feedback in which many people commented on how they felt the flashback was creative and effective, it was clear to see that this feedback I had received from my mother had in fact improve the final outcome. Sometimes it is very good to get a second opinion along the way, as I carried out this editing alone I needed to gain someone else’s perspective and so asked my mum a lot for her opinion. The flashback scene was the only part she suggested improvements for as her knowledge of the editing software and my abilities were limited. However, I learnt from this experience, and the video had a better outcome because of the amendments I made to the flashback scene, and the class really liked it.Peer Assessment
When asked whether they enjoyed the music video or not and asked to rate it out of 10 100% of candidates rated our video 8/10 or above. We then asked them what the liked about the video. These were there responses; good storyline, actors were very convincing and had good chemistry, my convincing role as Kelly Clarkson, and the good variety of mise-en-scene and camera angles throughout the video. When asked whether they felt the story line fitted the song, 100% of the candidates agreed that it did. When asked if the actor who played the artist fitted her role again many commented on the many similarities that myself and Kelly Clarkson share. They said that I had done a good job with the miming and playing that characters role. When asked if the actors fitted their role, 100% of the responses were positive and said the actors had good chemistry and had good acting abilities. We then asked if people enjoyed the video and if they were fans of Kelly. 100% of people asked did in fact enjoy the video even if they were not previously fans of her music. When asked on suggestions for improvements the general comments included adding more of a variety of camera angles, sorting out the dodgy zooming within clips and adding a range of shot.
From the peer assessment that we received, we noticed that people were a little more complimentary and less critical as they were our friends and therefore did not feel comfortable criticising our video. However, they all said they had enjoyed it, the actors were good and they liked the storyline, which is a very successful outcome. They also suggested some improvements which were all things that we had already noticed such as the accidental zooming etc. This feedback was very reassuring that people enjoyed our video, however there was one person who said add a bigger variety of camera angles. When we went back to our music video we did do this. You will see scenes of me on the stairway in my house, with very high angle shots and low angle shots. We felt this would mix it up and keep it current and would also satisfy those of the audience who had suggested this as an improvement.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancilliary texts?
Ancilliary Texts:
Main Product (Music Video Link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T8bNcXYRfo
As you can see in both the main product and the ancillary texts, the artist is the main focus. This is because I wanted to conform to that stereotypical pop style where the artist is the most important feature. They are used for promotional methods and therefore you would expect to see them throughout the music video to draw in the audience and similarly with the digipack- the artist will be the feature that sells the product as this is what will grabs the audiences attention, specifically the fans. I feel that they work well together as in the music video you see some dark and some bright scenes which I believe not only reflects the narrative of the song but also Kelly’s persona in the eyes of the media. She is sometimes rock and sometimes pop. In the music video the brighter scenes represent her pop side whereas the darker scenes represent her more rock side. This is carried through to the ancillary texts I have created. The front cover and back image have a more bright feel to them, representing the pop, whereas the advert and the inside cover have a darker mood (they are in black and white) and they seem more real rock, very simplistic, very natural, no glamour, happy faces or cheesy facial expressions just raw. It shows the different sides to Kelly and also the different sides of the storyline in the music video. When taking the photographs for the digipack and advert we decided to use the exact same "heavy" eye makeup. We felt that it would be very useful in maintaining that consistency. This was one of our main concerns. We took these images a little while after we filmed the music video and so we feared that we would not be able to create the same look again, however we managed this and we was therefore able to maintain the consistency between the main product and the ancillary texts.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
In what ways does your media product use, challenge or developing forms and conventions of real media products?
In the planning and preparation stage of the entire process, we did a lot of research into our genre, music videos, Kelly Clarkson and our audience. We felt that there were many preconceptions that our audience would have about the type of video they should expect. The audience would be young, mainly females who are into pop music, and would therefore expect to see that stereotypical pop video. Slightly cheesy, artist focused, perfect on the surface approach. Our research showed us no alternative to work around this pop image as it is such a strong genre it would be very difficult to challenge it and still create a good video. therefore we decided that for the most part of our video, we would conform to the current forms and conventions of real media products.
We did this by making our video very artist focused. I would say that around 70% of the video features the artist, alone. This was one way to conform to the pop industry. With pop music its all about the idol rather than the music, the artist is the star and seen as an inspirational character and is therefore appreciated greatly by fans. The audience for this type of music are more interested in the artist than the quality of the song. If they are already a fan of Kelly Clarkson, then they will immediately like this song. They are very much swayed by the medias intervention and promotion of the artists perceived appearance and become taken with this. This means that they want to see her in the video, she is there inspiration. So, not only did we ensure that she was featured in much of the video, we also ensured that many of the camera angles were close ups, to really focus in on Kelly. She would always be in the middle of the shot and would therefore be "centre of attention". This is seen in many other music videos of the pop genres, such as Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Cheryl Cole videos. A variety of different kind of pop artists who each take on the lead role on their videos, in the same way that Kelly does in ours.
Below are three links that will take you to three different videos from these artist where you will see the artist is the main focus of the video.
Britney Spears- Sometimes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpo9lb6TGgk
Cheryl Cole- Fight For This Love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMiy_UsrPDs
Jennifer Lopez- Get Right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WIsnC-h1d0
The ethnicity of the couple (black) could also be seen as a stereotype given the circumstances of the storyline. Although this was not an intentional move made by us as a group, it was later bought to our attention by our teacher. These fight scenes could be seen as even more of a controversial subject due to the ethnicity of the couple. This may even be seen as prejudice. This could be a way in which we are conforming or challenging real media products. It could be seen as conforming in that we are playing on a stereotype, however it could be seen as a challenge as it is a very contentious subject that maybe is too outrageous for any real professional media distributors to produce because of the scrutiny they would come under if they did.
The video developed forms and conventions of real media products as in the original Kelly Clarkson video, Kelly portrays the vulnerable character as well as the artist. In our video we had completely separate actors to play out the narrative of the song. We did this because we wanted to develop the storyline further than the original video had. It was very basic and understated and we wanted to intensify this greatly. We wanted to make the abuse intense and scary. We wanted our audience to sympathise with the character, however we did not want to disturb them. We felt that if we had used Kelly Clarkson to lay the role of the abused wife, this would have taken it too far and, rather than the audience feeling sympathy and empathising with the character, they would be shocked and horrified to see their favourite artist in such n awful state. It would not be enjoyable for them as they would be seeing someone they love and admire so much being derogatively treated. We knew our scenes would be quite intense and dramatic, and our audience would not want to see this if the artist was the one facing the abuse. Because we wanted to develop the storyline further than the original video, we knew that the only way we could do this was to get in new characters to play this role.
Pop videos are often very quick and fast paced. It is something that can often be associated with the fast paced lifestyles of its young audience. we wanted to conform to this and so I ensured that when editing, clips lasted no longer than around 5 seconds or less. Even though the song was relatively slow, I still wanted to capture the interest on my audience and I did this by keeping the pace fast. The audience would expect this subtle convention, however it would probably go unnoticed. If clips were very long, this would bore the viewer and the song would begin to drag on and on. Scenes must be transitory in a pop video as long scenes just do not work. They become monotonous and extensive and leaves the audience just waiting and anticipating the next scene, which is never good. They should be able to watch it comfortably without ever thinking "this scene is lasting too long".
We did this by making our video very artist focused. I would say that around 70% of the video features the artist, alone. This was one way to conform to the pop industry. With pop music its all about the idol rather than the music, the artist is the star and seen as an inspirational character and is therefore appreciated greatly by fans. The audience for this type of music are more interested in the artist than the quality of the song. If they are already a fan of Kelly Clarkson, then they will immediately like this song. They are very much swayed by the medias intervention and promotion of the artists perceived appearance and become taken with this. This means that they want to see her in the video, she is there inspiration. So, not only did we ensure that she was featured in much of the video, we also ensured that many of the camera angles were close ups, to really focus in on Kelly. She would always be in the middle of the shot and would therefore be "centre of attention". This is seen in many other music videos of the pop genres, such as Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Cheryl Cole videos. A variety of different kind of pop artists who each take on the lead role on their videos, in the same way that Kelly does in ours.
Below are three links that will take you to three different videos from these artist where you will see the artist is the main focus of the video.
Britney Spears- Sometimes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpo9lb6TGgk
Cheryl Cole- Fight For This Love:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMiy_UsrPDs
Jennifer Lopez- Get Right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WIsnC-h1d0
The ethnicity of the couple (black) could also be seen as a stereotype given the circumstances of the storyline. Although this was not an intentional move made by us as a group, it was later bought to our attention by our teacher. These fight scenes could be seen as even more of a controversial subject due to the ethnicity of the couple. This may even be seen as prejudice. This could be a way in which we are conforming or challenging real media products. It could be seen as conforming in that we are playing on a stereotype, however it could be seen as a challenge as it is a very contentious subject that maybe is too outrageous for any real professional media distributors to produce because of the scrutiny they would come under if they did.
The video developed forms and conventions of real media products as in the original Kelly Clarkson video, Kelly portrays the vulnerable character as well as the artist. In our video we had completely separate actors to play out the narrative of the song. We did this because we wanted to develop the storyline further than the original video had. It was very basic and understated and we wanted to intensify this greatly. We wanted to make the abuse intense and scary. We wanted our audience to sympathise with the character, however we did not want to disturb them. We felt that if we had used Kelly Clarkson to lay the role of the abused wife, this would have taken it too far and, rather than the audience feeling sympathy and empathising with the character, they would be shocked and horrified to see their favourite artist in such n awful state. It would not be enjoyable for them as they would be seeing someone they love and admire so much being derogatively treated. We knew our scenes would be quite intense and dramatic, and our audience would not want to see this if the artist was the one facing the abuse. Because we wanted to develop the storyline further than the original video, we knew that the only way we could do this was to get in new characters to play this role.
Pop videos are often very quick and fast paced. It is something that can often be associated with the fast paced lifestyles of its young audience. we wanted to conform to this and so I ensured that when editing, clips lasted no longer than around 5 seconds or less. Even though the song was relatively slow, I still wanted to capture the interest on my audience and I did this by keeping the pace fast. The audience would expect this subtle convention, however it would probably go unnoticed. If clips were very long, this would bore the viewer and the song would begin to drag on and on. Scenes must be transitory in a pop video as long scenes just do not work. They become monotonous and extensive and leaves the audience just waiting and anticipating the next scene, which is never good. They should be able to watch it comfortably without ever thinking "this scene is lasting too long".
Friday, 25 March 2011
Advert for DigiPak
For this I used the same image I had used for the inside cover of the album. I felt that it was effective and with a little writing could be used as good promotional material. The advert is simplistic, classy and promotes Kelly as an artist as well as her new album. I chose a bright blue to put the "out now" in as I have used this blue on the front cover in Kelly eyes and therefore wanted to keep this consistency.
I feel this image is effective as an advert because it is noticeable, features Kelly and would jump out at you in a magazine because of the colour contrast.
Digipak Back Cover Image
Keeping the black and white theme and the presence of Kelly, I still kept that sense of simplicity. It is quite different from the front cover, however this is something I wanted to acheive. Kelly is an artist of a hybrid genre. She's sometimes rock and sometimes pop. I wanted to express these different sides of Kelly so that I could appeal to the entirety of her audience. They do not want to see just one side of her personality, they want the full package and I feel this Digipak as a whole does this.
This back cover image shows her as a real artist, it shows her more rock side but still incorporates that element of pop as she does not look angry or depressed. Her outfit is rock, and her posture is slightly rock but her facial expression has eyes that are happy and I think this shows her pop side.
Digipak -CD
This is the CD for my digipak. It maintains the simplicity found in the other images and therefore creates a flow and connection. The dark colours still prominent on the page and still very classy. When creating this I went with the belief that "less is more". As it is just the CD, I did not want to overwhelm the audience, I feel that there is no need to put too much on the disc as I feel that the bear minimum always looks best. When it is overfilled with images and pattern it can often look overcrowded and not "classy". I did not want this and so I kept it very basic. Because of the shape of the disc it is hard to include images or patterns that fit well and so this was another reason I chose to keep it simple. Less is more.
Digipak Inside Cover
This is just a simple image of Kelly that I wanted to use. I felt it stripped bare all of the preconceptions and connotations of a pop artist and therefore challenged the form and conventions of the pop culture. Its simplistic and real, something we do not stereotypically usually associate with a pop artist, we would usually expect colour, and things to be false or exaggerated. This is very realistic and natural. I think this plays with the slight rock side that Kelly represents and I feel it creates a balance. She isn't just your average pop artist, she has another side to her which is a bit darker and more "rocky". This darker side coincides with the black and white effect I have included on this image. I felt that this black and white also made the cd flow well. Black and white effect is classy and I felt then that this went well with the front cover image and maintained a certain level of class and professionalism.
Digipak Front Image
This is the front cover image I have created. I wanted it to be flashy, bright and classy and I feel that it does do this. The text is bold and makes a statement. The text reminds me of the writing you see for a new movie coming out it is big, noticeable and prominent on the page the black and silver theme I feel adds a touch of class to the cover. It’s shiny and new and I believe this make it looks very professional and once again prominent on the shelves. It definitely contributes to the overall impact of the front cover and catches the audiences attention.
I wanted Kelly to be the main focus and so when I created this I chose an image that largely featured her (me). The front cover of a pop CD needs to appeal to its audience and the only way that I could achieve this was by selling the artist. My target audience want to know about the artist and when they see this image they will be drawn in. The name of the artist and the image of her are the two things that will work together to grab the attention of the audience. If they are already fans of Kelly and her music then just seeing her face and name and the fact that she has a new album will be enough to draw them in. I made her eyes very blue so that they captivate potential buyers. It really is very prominent and would make you stop and notice it. It is the final touch I added to make the front cover all the more outstanding and audience grabbing.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Editing replacement clips
When it came to re-editing, I found that this was a very technical process. Before I could replace a certain clip I had to record its details; the exact timing it began and the exct timing that it ended. I would the remove this clip and replace with the new clip that I would spend around 10 minutes getting perfectly in sync. I would then split the clip at the exact moment the old clip had ended. I had to ensure that my figures were exact, as if they were not this would mess up the clips that followed and they would all e out of sync. It was a tricky process and took a very long time, however I commited much of my free time to ensure I was able to get it done for myself and my team.
Together as a group we all watched through the video and selected clips that we wanted to change and replace with more subtle clips. I then did this, which took a lot of concerntration and was an intricate task, however I managed it well and was able to replace the clips without ruining the sync of the rest of the video, which was excellent.
We also replaced the clip where you see the text message from Eddie. Originally this clip had a swear word in it. We put this hear to emphasise the abuse she receives, however we were later told that for our task this was unacceptable and should be removed. We therefore refilmed the text without the swear word and replced this clip.
Together as a group we all watched through the video and selected clips that we wanted to change and replace with more subtle clips. I then did this, which took a lot of concerntration and was an intricate task, however I managed it well and was able to replace the clips without ruining the sync of the rest of the video, which was excellent.
We also replaced the clip where you see the text message from Eddie. Originally this clip had a swear word in it. We put this hear to emphasise the abuse she receives, however we were later told that for our task this was unacceptable and should be removed. We therefore refilmed the text without the swear word and replced this clip.
Filming replacement clips
For this we arranged to come back to my house where we had previously filmed some scenes of Kelly in the garden. We chose this location because of the neutral decor that my house has in the hallway and staricase. We thought this setting would look good to tone done the video, make it seem more subtle as a lot of the clips of Kelly were in a very bright environment, and when we collected our feedback, people had commented on how maybe this was a little too bright. Therefore we thought rather than completely eliminate these scenes we would just balance out the brightness with some neutral scenes. To match this neuatral background, I also wore neutral beige and white coloured clothing. We thought that this would all just go well together and the mise en scene would match and coincide with each other. This location was chosen because of the critical feedback we received and so we hope that this will improve audience perception.
Creativity:
In the image of me in my room you may see in the corner that there is a stall with two perfume boxes on top. Unfortunately for this day of filming we were not able to collect a tripod, and so we sat for 5-10 minutes brain storming ways of constructing something that has the same effect. I found a stool in my house and we tried this out, however it was not tall enough and also did not allow us to tilt the camera as we so often did in many of our scenes. I looked around my house and found two perfume boxes. The first was used to heighten the camera, the second I opened the lid on slightly and was therefore able to rest the camera on this and we were able to get a tilt effect as the lid was open at about a 45 degree angle. This is an example of ways in which my group has shown initiative and creativity. When we come accross a problem we try and find a solution. We could have ust hand held the camera, however we knew this would not be half as effective and would not look profession and we would aso more than likely lose marks for our inability to hold a shot steady, Therefore we knew the severity of this situation and ensured that we found a good solution. I am pleased that we did.
Creativity:
In the image of me in my room you may see in the corner that there is a stall with two perfume boxes on top. Unfortunately for this day of filming we were not able to collect a tripod, and so we sat for 5-10 minutes brain storming ways of constructing something that has the same effect. I found a stool in my house and we tried this out, however it was not tall enough and also did not allow us to tilt the camera as we so often did in many of our scenes. I looked around my house and found two perfume boxes. The first was used to heighten the camera, the second I opened the lid on slightly and was therefore able to rest the camera on this and we were able to get a tilt effect as the lid was open at about a 45 degree angle. This is an example of ways in which my group has shown initiative and creativity. When we come accross a problem we try and find a solution. We could have ust hand held the camera, however we knew this would not be half as effective and would not look profession and we would aso more than likely lose marks for our inability to hold a shot steady, Therefore we knew the severity of this situation and ensured that we found a good solution. I am pleased that we did.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Media Changes
After getting together as a group and closely analysing the video we created a few months back, these are the changes that we have decided to make to the
As a group we all watched the entire video around 5 times, each of us pointing out clips we feel need re-evaluating in the process. The timings shown in the picture above, are representing the clips we are not 100% happy, whether these being for the quality of filming, actor problems or because of an ill-framed shot. I do not anticipate that we will have the time (given only one week) to re-film and replace all of these clips, however we will focus on the most necessary ones to start. For example, these would be the shot where you see Bethany reading a text. At the moment, this text has a swear word in it which is not acceptable and therefore we will need to reshoot this scene, without the swear word present in the text.
There are also another two scenes in the music video which are not acceptable and must be replaced; these are two clips of me where I am seen singing to the song but the camera either accidently moves or zooms. This is unprofessional and will lose us marks and therefore I will put my focus on this when it comes to editing the video.
Other clips we want to change aren't necessarily going to lose us marks, however we are just not entirely happy with them. There is one clip in particular that I would like to change, it is me singing on the field, and you can tell that I am looking very cold and therefore movement is minimal, it is shown in the first chorus of the song and I would very much like to replace this with something a little more energetic so that it flows well with the rest of the video. The rest of the clips have similar problems to this, just minor details that we aren't completely satisfied with.
As a group we all watched the entire video around 5 times, each of us pointing out clips we feel need re-evaluating in the process. The timings shown in the picture above, are representing the clips we are not 100% happy, whether these being for the quality of filming, actor problems or because of an ill-framed shot. I do not anticipate that we will have the time (given only one week) to re-film and replace all of these clips, however we will focus on the most necessary ones to start. For example, these would be the shot where you see Bethany reading a text. At the moment, this text has a swear word in it which is not acceptable and therefore we will need to reshoot this scene, without the swear word present in the text.
There are also another two scenes in the music video which are not acceptable and must be replaced; these are two clips of me where I am seen singing to the song but the camera either accidently moves or zooms. This is unprofessional and will lose us marks and therefore I will put my focus on this when it comes to editing the video.
Other clips we want to change aren't necessarily going to lose us marks, however we are just not entirely happy with them. There is one clip in particular that I would like to change, it is me singing on the field, and you can tell that I am looking very cold and therefore movement is minimal, it is shown in the first chorus of the song and I would very much like to replace this with something a little more energetic so that it flows well with the rest of the video. The rest of the clips have similar problems to this, just minor details that we aren't completely satisfied with.
Issues That We Faced
Editing-
We used the Apple MACS to do our editing and used a software called iMovie HD. Our group was assigned a certain laptop where all our video clips and what we had edited was saved. At our school there are two media classes and the other class also had a group that was assigned this laptop. This meant that very often, our group had to defend our corner and justify why we should be given the laptop over the other group. Tensions between my group and the other group arose and arguments began to form which only put a further strain on the stresses of getting the work completed. This meant that the amount of time we would have spent editing was cut because we only had some of this time with the MAC. This was unfortunate and jeopardized our chances of succeeding as we now had to rush to get our work complete, rather than spend as much time as we needed, where we could consider each aspect. We were often rushed to the editing complete because of the lack of time we were granted with the laptop.
How we resolved this:
We spoke to the teachers to try and figure out set times when we could have the macs to edit. As students we were more respectful of the teachers opinion and authority and therefore, allowed them to have input in who got the mac at what time, as impartial parties, they would be more fair and allow us both equal time to edit.
Our lack of experience using the software was not an issue, but was definitely something that hindered our abilities. We were learning in the process of our production and therefore this was a time constraint on our work. If there was something we were unsure of how to do, we had to look it up etc which took up time that was very precious to us as our time with the MAC was limited.
How we resolved this:
We often asked Natasha to bring in her MAC so that she could use the internet to Google any technicalities we may have needed to question. Also I prepared everything that I was going to edit and therefore would spend time before the lesson trying to find information on how to do whatever it was that I wanted. For example, I wanted to add flashes to the flash back scene. I did not know how to do this, and therefore before the lesson, I spent some time at home researching guides and tutorials online to find out how I would manage this.
Youtube-
When we uploaded our video, something went wrong with the compression and therefore the video altered in the process and when played in Youtube is now out of time, although we had not edited it this way. A technical fault we were unable to find a way around.
How we resolved this:
In the end, after consulting our schools technicians we decided to burn our video onto a disc as this would then be able to play in time though this medium.
Cameras-
When filming our footage for the music video, we often left the school site to film in other locations, mine or Kerstin’s house, a field etc. We packed up the equipment and took it on location with us, however on a number of occasions we found that the school had not charged the camera for us and we therefore were unable to film as the camera was out of battery. Another issue like this was when they and forgotten to put the memory card in our camera and so we got to Kerstin’s house and realised we had to turn back round as we were unable to film without a memory card. As we were limited with time as it was, this was a huge time constraint that we could not afford, and had to rush around to catch up with. IT was usually a problem when working with the actors as I often felt we had to waste even more of their time as they were waiting around for us to gather sufficient and working equipment. They did not complain but it did add pressure on us to get it done quickly so that we were not affecting their free time too much. However, we could have done with this extra time as we often felt rushed when filming, which is not productive. It would be nice to see how different the filming would have turned out, had we not had these issues with the cameras.
How we dealt with this:
To resolve this issue, we decided that we would need to bring out a spare camera on all occasions so that if the school camera was not working, we had a back up and our day of filming would not be wasted.
Uploading-
As we did not have a working camera to use on a number of occasions, Natasha began to bring her camera out as a back-up. On one occasion we needed to use her camera, we were unaware of the problems this would later cause when uploading the video footage. We were approaching our deadline and so time was precious, and therefore we needed to upload and begin editing as soon as possible. When we came to upload the clips we had taken on Natasha’s camera, we became aware that as they were filmed in a different format, we would need specialist software to be able to upload these clips. This meant, that with our capabilities, we would not be able to upload the footage and it had therefore been lost.
How we resolved this:
We needed to find a way to get the video footage as it was important that we got these clips so that we could begin editing. Our only option was to consult with the IT Technicians at our school and see if there was anything at all that they would be able to do to get the video footage uploaded. After they played around with the mc for a little while, they told us that it would cost money to get the entirety of the clips uploaded, however we would be able to get the first 20 seconds of each clip. This would have to suffice, as there was no other option for us. Thankfully, we had taken enough footage in other location on the other camera that we always had enough clips to fill any gaps we may have and therefore losing part of each clip we had filmed was not entirely detrimental to our video as we had other clips to use.
We used the Apple MACS to do our editing and used a software called iMovie HD. Our group was assigned a certain laptop where all our video clips and what we had edited was saved. At our school there are two media classes and the other class also had a group that was assigned this laptop. This meant that very often, our group had to defend our corner and justify why we should be given the laptop over the other group. Tensions between my group and the other group arose and arguments began to form which only put a further strain on the stresses of getting the work completed. This meant that the amount of time we would have spent editing was cut because we only had some of this time with the MAC. This was unfortunate and jeopardized our chances of succeeding as we now had to rush to get our work complete, rather than spend as much time as we needed, where we could consider each aspect. We were often rushed to the editing complete because of the lack of time we were granted with the laptop.
How we resolved this:
We spoke to the teachers to try and figure out set times when we could have the macs to edit. As students we were more respectful of the teachers opinion and authority and therefore, allowed them to have input in who got the mac at what time, as impartial parties, they would be more fair and allow us both equal time to edit.
Our lack of experience using the software was not an issue, but was definitely something that hindered our abilities. We were learning in the process of our production and therefore this was a time constraint on our work. If there was something we were unsure of how to do, we had to look it up etc which took up time that was very precious to us as our time with the MAC was limited.
How we resolved this:
We often asked Natasha to bring in her MAC so that she could use the internet to Google any technicalities we may have needed to question. Also I prepared everything that I was going to edit and therefore would spend time before the lesson trying to find information on how to do whatever it was that I wanted. For example, I wanted to add flashes to the flash back scene. I did not know how to do this, and therefore before the lesson, I spent some time at home researching guides and tutorials online to find out how I would manage this.
Youtube-
When we uploaded our video, something went wrong with the compression and therefore the video altered in the process and when played in Youtube is now out of time, although we had not edited it this way. A technical fault we were unable to find a way around.
How we resolved this:
In the end, after consulting our schools technicians we decided to burn our video onto a disc as this would then be able to play in time though this medium.
Cameras-
When filming our footage for the music video, we often left the school site to film in other locations, mine or Kerstin’s house, a field etc. We packed up the equipment and took it on location with us, however on a number of occasions we found that the school had not charged the camera for us and we therefore were unable to film as the camera was out of battery. Another issue like this was when they and forgotten to put the memory card in our camera and so we got to Kerstin’s house and realised we had to turn back round as we were unable to film without a memory card. As we were limited with time as it was, this was a huge time constraint that we could not afford, and had to rush around to catch up with. IT was usually a problem when working with the actors as I often felt we had to waste even more of their time as they were waiting around for us to gather sufficient and working equipment. They did not complain but it did add pressure on us to get it done quickly so that we were not affecting their free time too much. However, we could have done with this extra time as we often felt rushed when filming, which is not productive. It would be nice to see how different the filming would have turned out, had we not had these issues with the cameras.
How we dealt with this:
To resolve this issue, we decided that we would need to bring out a spare camera on all occasions so that if the school camera was not working, we had a back up and our day of filming would not be wasted.
Uploading-
As we did not have a working camera to use on a number of occasions, Natasha began to bring her camera out as a back-up. On one occasion we needed to use her camera, we were unaware of the problems this would later cause when uploading the video footage. We were approaching our deadline and so time was precious, and therefore we needed to upload and begin editing as soon as possible. When we came to upload the clips we had taken on Natasha’s camera, we became aware that as they were filmed in a different format, we would need specialist software to be able to upload these clips. This meant, that with our capabilities, we would not be able to upload the footage and it had therefore been lost.
How we resolved this:
We needed to find a way to get the video footage as it was important that we got these clips so that we could begin editing. Our only option was to consult with the IT Technicians at our school and see if there was anything at all that they would be able to do to get the video footage uploaded. After they played around with the mc for a little while, they told us that it would cost money to get the entirety of the clips uploaded, however we would be able to get the first 20 seconds of each clip. This would have to suffice, as there was no other option for us. Thankfully, we had taken enough footage in other location on the other camera that we always had enough clips to fill any gaps we may have and therefore losing part of each clip we had filmed was not entirely detrimental to our video as we had other clips to use.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
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