James' Evaluation

Evaluation


Our music video was made by using the song “Seventeen Candles” by The Pink Spiders.


In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My music video uses current forms of real media products. This is done through Goodwin’s six points. The genre characteristics are common of an indie band which is the genre of our band. The characteristics include their image which is clothing. In the video a large black jacket is seen on the singer, which is a trademark of The Kooks. This is also the case with the other characters in the other scenes of the video, who all display the typical clothing. This fits in with the image of them.
Feelings are always usually displayed within Indie genre songs, and this is also the case with “Seventeen Candles”. The character is seen singing the lyrics to the song, which creates more of a live performance, even though it isn’t. This adds to the true characteristics of an indie band, which is what we were trying to represent. This increases the bands image and they are represented as a classic indie band. This is because indie bands undertake many live performances. This then tells us that the singer is related strongly to the lyrics of the song and this helps to represent the meaning and story of the song.

The visuals in the video relate strongly to the song lyrics. For example the song is called “Seventeen Candles” and at the end of the sequence we see 17 candles on a cake being blown out, showing it is someone’s birthday. The lyrics suggest a party atmosphere which is reflected in the video to show this. There is no strong intertextuality to any other music video, but the indie genre is strongly reflected throughout the video. The location was outdoors in a simple garden setting which can be quite conventional amongst other music videos. The artist within the video relates to a party atmosphere would be very appealing as this is also an interest of the target audience age.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

The combination between the music video and DVD/Magazine cover is very strong. The atmosphere that is portrayed in the music video is reflected on the digipak. This is done by using the images of the two main characters. The use of the two characters helps set the mood of the song and also what it is about and also gives the audience an insight into what the video will contain. The DVD cover shows that one character is relatively happy, whereas the other shows signs of depression. It is also reflected using effects, for example black and white to show unhappiness and negativity. This helps to create a strong link between them and strengthens continuity. Increasing continuity is good as it helps the product increase promotion and also establishes an image for the song itself and the band. I think that the link between them help the audience get a strong feel for what the song/video is about, which is always a plus as the video can become more enjoyable and keep the viewer interested in the story. The continuity helps the band to be recognised if it was seen in more songs and this will boost promotionally reach. Adding the record label MTV to the front of the cover boost promotion and creates a larger package for the digipak.

The Mise-en-scène shown in the video is in keeping within the media products and does not have an unnecessary change of style, which would make the audience confused. For example within the video the party atmosphere is seen to be in an outside area, in a garden. The cover of the DVD also shows the outside and sticks with the same area of Mise-en-scène. This combination makes the overall look more effective and distinctive.

What have you learnt from audience feedback?

The feedback given has been helpful in the development of our project, as it as helped to indentify existing problems and also allows us to see the video, from effectively our audience. It is very helpful having feedback when we were still developing our idea and video as we can see if the audience see the same, as what we are aiming for. This is very helpful as it lets us know what parts we need to work on and which parts really appeal. It also lets us know if what were are doing makes sense and is not too confusing.

We could also refer back to the audience feedback at later stages in the development to resurrect ideas and put them into practice, if there was a positive general consensus.

Our initial pitch showed a different location, which the audience thought was very good, however it was not possible to undertake this idea as achieving it would be very difficult and complex and weather conditions would need to have been perfect.

When our rough cut was shown to the audience it was obvious that some scenes were too repetitive, and we agreed. After the rough cut deadline we adjusted this by filming more footage and capturing the lip syncing scenes. This made the video more varied and interesting.

From the digipak the feedback given was mostly positive, but we learned that some information wasn’t included, i.e. a band website. Also we chose to use greyscale on the DVD cover only as it creates an atmosphere amongst the characters. We learnt that the continuity overall was very good, as it used similar photos, same style font and colouring.

Using Blogger made it very easy for us to revert back to our feedback that had been given, and by using the feedback we have been able to enhance our video and adjust it to the eye of the viewer and how they would like to see it, which is what we were primarily aiming for.
From viewing the feedback from our final video, I would make changes for next time, including a live band, with performance related scenes, which would give a stronger atmosphere, as it would link into the party scene.




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

From the beginning of our product we began using media technologies to help research our project. Our primary source was YouTube. We used this website to analyse other videos using the same theme, this was done to help us with ideas for our video. We looked firstly at The Pipettes as they were a band of the same genre, and YouTube allowed us to search many videos of theirs to get a general feel, which was very useful.

Once we had captured footage for our video we then uploaded it to Final Cut Express HD. This program allowed us to cut and move select footage, add many effects such as transitions, colour adjustment and other specialist effects. It also allowed us to add the song to the video and edit the video as far as possible to achieve our finished product, which is made into a QuickTime.
We designed our digipak in Photoshop. This was used as it allowed us to make a very comprehensive image with specialist tools to change the look of the image. We used effects to help make the image eye catching and attractive. However when using this program we were sometimes unsure on how to complete a certain tasks. So we used YouTube to locate a tutorial on how to do this. This was very successful and enabled us to go on with our project as we planned it.

The main new media technology that we used was Blogger. This online website blog allowed us to keep all of our plans, ideas, updates, completed tasks, photos, videos and comments on one simple page. It was very useful as it held all of our feedback and also made it ease for the audience to find our information. Our final media technology we used was the video commentary. This was done by using a video camera to record a commentary from the group on select questions, the use of the video meant a new way in which to make a commentary that was more interesting and fun to watch. This shows how the modern age is taking over and changing the way in which things can be done.

DVD Cover

Above is our completed DVD cover for our Digipack.

lesson Update

In todays lesson we started work on our digipack. We chose to have a picture of the person who is singing in the video as the background for our magazine advert.

Reviewing Digipack - Take That, The Circus

'Take That, The Circus' Poster

On the cover of the advert i would expect to see the artists name along with a picture of them. I would also want to see the name of the album and the tour name on the cover making it clear to be identified and selected by the public. These visuals will also give the audience an idea of what to expect, for example in the image above, a poster promoting the 'Take That The Circus' tour bright colours are used and as well as an elephant, a common circus animal with the band members riding it. The line which runs under the name 'Take That' also appears on the CD of the tours album which invokes continuity to the tour.

The overall image of the advert should be eye catching, unique, clean and, more importantly appeal to it's target market.

'Take That, The Circus' CD

On the cover i would expect to see much the same as the advert which, again will show continuity and help the public recognize that both media forms are for the same band/ group. Also both the CD cover and Poster use the same colour blue as the background and white font colour, again keeping the image of the band the same.

'Take That, The Circus' CD Cover

Lesson Update

In todays lesson we edited our video further: Firstly we finished gray-scaling the remaining parts of our video. We also began to add video transitions throughout our footage.

For next lesson we plan to capture the last shots, which are the band performing the chorus at the party.

We will also start to design and produce our digipack which involves making a poster with tour dates and information on the band and DVD cover with track names, where it was filmed and on which tour as well as design for DVD image.

Review of last years music video - Group P2-38 'Lotus'

We feel that what makes the video effective and memorable are the low lighting conditions at

the start of the video and when the band performs. This is because using technique hides the

identify of the band which makes the viewer want to see the rest of the video to see what the

band members look like. They also use a technique of back lighting which again creates the

same response.

This video meets the criteria by demonstrating excellence in the following areas:

• holding a steady shot
• framing your shots
• variety of shot distance
• shooting appropriate material
• selecting mise-en-scene
• appropriate set/ locations
• using varied shot transitions
• using sound with images

how does it address goodwins points?

From this video we have seen how variety and the amount of shots can improve a video and

make it more interesting. We have also seen how lighting has a big effect on the overall

atmosphere of the video. We also learnt that using a lower camera angle improves the videos

image as it changes the shot variety and earns points on the advanced criteria. Because of this

will be looking into using different camera angles among other techniques which are displayed

in this video.

Additional filming

After we submitted our roughcut it was clear that there were some large portions of footage missing. We plan to fill most of these gaps with the band singing and performing the chorus of the song. We will also include more shot variety (close ups, long shots etc) as up to now we have only really been using medium shots.

Extreme Close Up:

Close Up:

Long Shot:

Feedback Feedback

We read through the feedback we were given by other groups in our class and have taken it all into consideration. We realized we still need to fill a large section of our work in which we thought lip syncing was the best way to fill this. This way we also stick to the Goodwin's points.

We had positive feedback about the different colour filters which was good as we were most proud about this and it took us a long time to do.

We decided to film some close ups of the female as we haven't got any yet so thought this would be a good idea to include some. This gives it a variety which was mentioned in a feedback from group 48.

Also filming different shots we will be able to replace the scenes which are repeated in the video which some groups did pick up on.

The lip syncing will be demonstrated by the band playing the chorus which we also still need to film.

Roughcut

This is our roughcut video, as you can see, we are missing quite a large amount of footage. This would be because of all the problems we ran into when filming and some confusion about the direction of the piece. We have thrown together some rough footage so we wouldn't miss the roughcut deadline, whether all or any of the footage used in the piece will be in the final thing, we are unsure.

One thing we are proud of is the editing of the colour balloons on a black and white filter.

When we first tried to upload the video to the blog, we didn't follow the instructions as well as we thought we had so it wouldn't upload. We cancelled this and started from the beginning and this time managed to upload our rough cut.

Lyrics to our chosen song

Below are the lryics for our chosen song, the pink spiders 'seventeen candles' which we will need to learn before filming our music video.

Every day’s a distraction
All the animals just looking for action
And Emily’s free-styling rhymes
Smoking in the girl’s room to kill some time
Cause all they want is a girl who
Parties hard and doesn’t bother to argue
And nobody’s worse for the wear
Everybody’s cool with the “I don’t care”

Seventeen candles are burning bright tonight
But I’ve a feeling
That she believes she’s a bit old for cake
And gifts and party favours
Emily, everyone told her it don’t get much better
Which only upset her
Could this be as good as it gets?

Just as loud as a half-stack
Of vodka tonic bottled up in her backpack
She’s badder than big heavy Jane’s
She turns it all out but the fact remains
That all we do is talk about the future
Like there’s some way to control it
Why not just enjoy the ride?

Seventeen candles are burning bright tonight
But I’ve a feeling
That she believes she’s a bit old for cake
And gifts and party favours
Emily, everyone told her it don’t get much better
Which only upset her
Could this be as good as it gets?

She said if this is the nightlife I’d rather stay in
You call this a good time I just call it a trip
If this is as good as it gets
Then I’m packing up my shit and I’m gone

Seventeen candles are burning bright tonight
But I’ve a feeling
That she believes she’s a bit old for cake
And gifts and party favours
Emily, everyone told her it don’t get much better
Which only upset her
Could this be as good as it gets?

Seventeen candles are burning bright tonight
But I’ve a feeling
That she believes she’s a bit old for cake
And gifts and party favours
Emily, everyone told her it don’t get much better
Which only upset her
Could this be as good as it gets?

Response..to..feedback.

We've looked at the feedback we've received and there has been some good points made. We have taken these on board and have improved on what has been said.

We have had a lot of constructive criticism concerning the state of the storyboard which will need to be rectified. We will: 

• retake the photo of the storyboard, time sheet and annotation to story board making sure that they are of better quality and in a higher resolution which will make it easier to read and understand 

We will also add more information to the analysis of professional music videos as this will help us to understand techniques which they use. This way we will be able to take these points and use them in our video so it has that professional look to it.

Digipack - magazine rough idea

For our Digipack, we have chosen this because it matches the theme of the music video and incorporates music/lyrics to visuals which will be shown in the video. The DVD cover will follow the same feel as the magazine but will have a different image/ text. Below is what we plan to have as our Digipack cover;

Filming time amendments

We had planned to film our music video outside in a local field. However on the day of shooting the weather was against us and rain was due, because of this we have decided to film our video inside. The props and requirements which we will need will be different from that if we were going to film outside, these differences will be:

• no need for a tent 
• will need a large table 
• space for the band to play 
• dance space 
• lights

filming Times

We will be filming our video on wednesday the 7th october 2009 from 5:00pm onwards as this is the time which it starts to get dark. This way we can have the fairy lights stand out more and make it seem more realistic.

We expect to film it within one evening as we want to have the same clothing, props, food etc throughout the whole video instead of it changed at a point in the video. However if the weather is bad then we may need to carry on on another night but make sure we have everything as last time. 

Props

For our shoot we will need: 

• cake with seventeen candles
• fairy lights
• table
• food and drink 
• marque 
• instrument (2 guitars, bass)
• flood lights 
• guests 

Location

We have decided to film our music video in James' filed as it offers us enough space and is free of charge. Below is a image of the filed:

To make the field look like a party is happening we will put a marque, place fairy lights around the field and put tables with food and drinks etc... 

Pitch amendments

Length of music video:

The length of the music for our video is 3:16 although after editing our final video will probably be slightly longer than that due to the fact that we will have to add blank areas at the start and end of the video as well as having establishing and end closing shots which may or may not have the music playing.

Shot types, camera angles and music time line:

Above is the music to visuals time line explaining what shot types and camera angles are used and how long each shop is and wether there is music with the shot or not. 

Storyboard and shot list:

The storyboard is to help us remember what we want out of our footage in the right place when we are filming and editing. This way we are organized and will not forget what else we need to film or where we want it.

The shot list is similar to this but also informs us of what kind of shot each one is, therefore, when we go to film, we read this and know what shot we all decided on.

Coursework Deadlines

Planning - 23rd September to the 2nd October 2009 

Start shooting - 2nd October 2009 at 4:10 p.m.

Finish shooting - 19th October 2009 at 9:00 a.m.

Roughcut deadline - 22nd October 2009

Final deadline - 5th November 2009 at the end of the lesson

Digipack Deadline: Last lesson of the week ending 27th November 2009

Evaluation draft: Up loaded onto moodle on the 7th December 2009 at 9 a.m.  

Final evaluation: up loaded onto moodle on the 14th December 2009 at 9 a.m.

Pitch Feedback

Although our pitch went well there are certain areas which need improving. To enhance our pitch we will add information on: 

• duration of video
  
• shot types/ camera angles
• storyboard

Areas of our pitch which our class members liked:

• the black and white visuals to suite the mood of the main character (sad and unhappy) which then turn to a colour visual when she is happy - good signifier
• the slow motion idea, again to suite the mood of the main character
• the overall concept idea of the video especially the idea of linking the visuals to the music (having seventeen candles)  

Target Market

Our chosen target market is young teenagers aged 13-16. We have chosen this because we fell that the song is suited to that generation, also the theme/story told in the music is aimed at that target market.

To make our video suitable for our proposed target market we will ensure that there will be no inappropriate images/ scenes of violence, sex and nudity as well as following the relevant BBFC guidelines, Which are as followed:   

http://www.bbfc.co.uk