I wanted to create continuity throughout my digipack so I made sure I was consistent with having a black and white theme. This creates realism to my work and is following the conventions of this form as looking at existing products in my research, the CD digipack flows and follows the rules similar to a magazine by using the same house colours throughout and images. This is how I believe that my work follows the conventions and is not challenging them.
I will only change this digipack, if my images from my underwater scene/photographs looks good to put on a CD or poster for that matter.
This poster above is for the simple purpose of television advertisement or on the internet like my image above, or on a device such as an Ipod/Iphone with the single/album artwork on screen when the song is playing. I thought it would be a good idea to include this to show how my product looks in real life media texts. I am proud of this as its simplicity makes it attractive and I believe it is a good product for what the chosen purpose of it is. This is not on the requirements for my coursework, however, I wanted to create more to my work and I believe in a post modern society, I should try to produce my work in as much real media context as possible.
This is my poster for a magazine. As I had to produce a magazine last year for my media coursework, I felt that I would be able to do really well at this, however, as I left this task for my last product to produce, I ran out of time to produce an out come I was happy with.
My media product challenges the conventions of the very first music videos such as Bob Dylan and his originality with the use of the paper card with lyrics printed on them with one camera shot and not cuts. Mine uses a range of different cinematography angles and edits. Another example to show how my music video challenges the conventions of a music video; the Beatles 'I want to hold your hand' music video. The conventions of this with Bob Dylan's music video is similar due to the cinematography. It is still and doesn't consist of zooms, tracks or tilts (however the Beatles uses the use of pan sometimes).
In comparison to my music video, I have challenged those conventions set many decades ago however I use many postmodern conventions by using pans, still cam, tracks and one use of zoom. A selection of music videos that contain these elements are The 1975 'sex' and Madonna "Vogue".
These are two videos from most recent postmodern media texts around a decade apart which have similar conventions, Madonnas in 1990 and The 1975 in 2013. These both use quick cuts and are quite abstract for the year they were produced. In relation to my music video, my conventions are quite similar to that set of the 1975 'sex' music video. However, this was filmed in colour and mine was in black and white. However, to show how postmodern media texts range in different use of eclectic borrowing such as Madonnas music video being in black and white and 1975's (another example from 1975) 'Antichrist' music video being black and white throughout.
I believe that I haven't so much as developed real media texts, but reinforced the use of black and white filming. In relation to the band The 1975, they have used a black and white effect throughout a lot of their videos such as 'antichrist' and 'chocolate'. As they are a present band, I believe that this will be a style that will become popular again due to being recycled style of music videos such as Madonna's 'Vogue' video.
By using a convention which is in most music videos, a club or house party, this will create realism for my "pre drinks" scene, this will especially apply to uses and gratification theory of Blumler & Katz (1974) creating a personal relationship and personal identity for youth in relation to collective identity, with my main product which is a postmodern feature of music videos. My abstract elements such as the slow motion scenes (in the pool), this allows time for my audience to think about what they represent and this part allows my audience to be active and decode/deconstruct the abstract areas of my main talent in their own way.
A lot of music videos conventions repeat their shots used, and I have stuck to this particular convention with the incorporation of using quick cuts, pans, zooms, tilts and etc to make my repeated shots more interesting.
This particular part of my music video is challenging the conventions of existing music videos as it is not a usual convention to have a moving image of a portrait shot to be landscape. I didn't plan this as whilst filming I realized I was filming the wrong way, I then changed to landscape which is what the majority of my shots are. When I came to constructing my music video, I used these type of shots to experiment and see what the outcome would be. I liked it and thought it was a good way to show the same shot but in an more abstract way; And this being abstract as it is different to the expected conventions of the usual music video.
DIGIPACK
Like existing media texts, I tried to have continuity throughout my work. I wanted my main image for my front cover to be the same for my poster because in existing media text such as Lana Del Rey (see images below), she has the same image for her poster and CD cover. All media texts I have looked at including from my research, all use the same font, house colours and similar images throughout or graphics. I wanted to have 3 different images for my CD digipack so I made them all in black and white to allow this continuity to occur within four different media texts. In relation to my research (print screens from my blog below), I believe I am using the conventions similar to those seen in the Fleetwood Mac Album as the continuity between the different covers flow and I think that my product dose too. However, I could say that this is challenging as we live in a post modern era and continuity doesn't have to be a convention. I think that a CD digipack which relates to this from my research is the Foo Fighter CD in the second print screen below. The CD has a bomb on the front and an umbrella on the first inner page. This in my opinion is a post modern approach to a media text. Relating my digipack to that, mine may be challenging the post modern conventions of not having continuity within images.
I decided to use my underwater images for the discs as I thought they looked good when placed on the template to the digipack. By doing this, I will be promoting the single's music video within the actual product itself.
This is a small section of the research I did for a Digipack. (seen below)
From looking at the Foo Fighters CD pack. I thought I would pick random CD's from around the house and photograph them for my research to show that the conventions of different artists are the same. They all contain artist name on the front and album name even though they all look different due to the composition of the text and image/artwork used.
All artwork/design on the CD's themselves all vary in style however the conventions tend to be again the artists name, album name and sometimes the tracks are numerically listed on the CD too. The back fo the CD's however are all very different apart from the use of the tracks numerically listed. I would like to be creative and be rather analog in my approach using artwork with possibly an image. As I am just researching at the moment, I will be thinking my plans/ideas through properly at a later date.
POSTER
My poster was inspired by the Arctic Monkeys poster below. Unlike a lot of existing texts now, my poster has a star rating on it which is still seen in some posters today, however could be developing them or challenging the option to not use them in posters. I'm using the conventions seen in many different posters, this convention is the social networking promotion of the artist. such as Facebook, Twitter and website links. Furthermore, I believe I've developed the used of different networks/programs by also including where my target audience can purchase the album - Mine being Itunes. A convention which I didn't see much of in my research was the record label for the artist. However, I am challenging the conventions of my ancillary text by including it within my poster as I feel it is necessary.
I also challenged most media texts as they use a full portrait image. I'm developing my inspiration for Arctic Monkey's poster as they used a landscape image and so did I. Mine and the Arctic Monkeys image to not fill the whole page, however the negative space is filled with text. I feel that this is challenging the mass/cliche approach to producing a poster however keeping in link with my main product and CD digipack.
This image below was a little mock up to see what my image would look like in the real enviroment it would be seen in. I feel that my image works within the website I chose to place it in and would be seen on radio 1 as it is an Indie/Rock song which is not likely to be on Capital Charts which is more mass audience music rather then the niche or rock/indie. My target audience will listen to Capital as it is the mass radio station for people I'm targeting, however, as my target audience are niche, that being people who listen to rock/indie, they will most likely listen to radio one if any radio station. This is why I have placed my image in this website.
This video above is my focus group. Within this video I have asked the following questions which are similar to those of my focus group when I was researching, however asked in a different way (see below).
The questions I asked in my audience feedback video (above) were the following -
How well do you feel my music video suites my chosen genre of Indie/Rock?
Do you think it is suitable for my target audience of 16 years and above - e.g. suitable footage
My conventions are similar to that of the 1975's "Sex" music video; Do you think the quick/fast editing works well for my music video?
Can you tell the editing speeds up as the song progresses?
Can you understand the narrative of my music video?
Do my costumes work well?
From feedback I can relate it to my first focus group to see how I have or havent stuck to certain aspects of the chosen genre and information from my research. From this feedback I can see where my strengths are. My target audience suggest how they like my fast editing and say that is effective. As I whole I think my music video was a sucessful product for the chosen genre of indie/rock due to the responses I have recieved.
I decided to get more feedback from different age ranges. So I asked my family and 2 of my friends my age the following questions in the image above.
The people I asked were:
Mum and Dad - 46 and 49
Aunt and Uncle - 43 and 45
Cousins - 23 and 21
Grandmas - 67 and 65
Friends - 17 and 18
From doing this I found out that my ancillary texts are OK, but not as good as they could be. The images I used were to represent the movement captured in the pool scene but in a different form. This is to represent the decline into her use of drugs throughout my music video. However, as my Grandmas are of an older generation, they were the ones whom of which did not quite understand why I did this and didn't know what the relation was between the ancillary texts and main product.
If I were to do this project again, I think I would spent more time on my ancillary texts as I found it hard to balance my time with my other coursework regardless of how much I planned to organize my time.
After I asked different members of my family and two of my friends the questions seen above, I also asked whether they like that I didn't use a tripod for most of my music video. I explained why I only used the tripod in the studio/green screen scenes - To get a steady cam when turning the light on and off. The response was that it makes them feel that they are actually there in the video watching Jodee. This was the response I wanted within my music video without using a tripod. As the audience understand this, I believe that my intensions were successful.
THIS IS WHAT I DID FOR MY RESEARCH (SEE BELOW)
Asking Questions to College Students as part of my Target Audience Research
What types of iconography/conventions would you expect from a music video of a rock/indie genre?
What age range would you say would be suitable for drug use and sex conventions to be in a music video?
How do you watch music videos?
How often do you use youtube? - Do you use youtube over a music video tv channel?
Which artist is your favourite for the genre Rock/Indie?
I'm inspired by Rihanna's distrtbia music video, and this is how I want to present my drug scenes - although I will make this suit my music genre. Do you think this is a good idea?
What I learnt from this was what main elements I should include in my music video such as leather jacket (in the club scene), dark make-up (crazy studio scene) and so on. As I said I wanted my music video to be abstract like Rihanna's music video, I stuck to this point mostly with having fast edits and sped up scenes for a unnatural look/atmosphere to be created. From this research I did at the start, I believe I tried to stick to the main points which my target audience stated in the video above. By keeping to these points I think I was successful in producing a music video for my target audience; I think this because in the first video in the green room, my target audience said how they understand the narrative and that the video is good for my target audience set and is suitable. From doing another focus group after producing my final product, I can receive feedback on how well or badly I have done in this project. From asking a range of people, the majority understand and like my music video and understand why I have used certain techniques to produce a certain outcome.
(THIS VIDEO ALSO INCLUDES MY CANON WHICH WAS USED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION)
SOCIAL NETWORKS
For my research I used YouTube
channels of artists from my chosen genre such as the 1975, MSMR, Foo Fighters
and a few more to watch their music videos and look for
comparisons/similarities within their different music videos. YouTube is also
linked in with sharing videos on Facebook and Twitter on my laptop. I visited these pages of
some artists to look at images they had posted for the promotion of their
latest album/single. From this point, I used Web 2.0 and google to search and
find images for my research into posters of tours, singles, and clothing for
that particular genre iconography as inspiration for my models outfits in
different scenes.
I used Facebook to look at how bands and artists post their posters and photographs of their CD for my research into ancillary texts. I chose to do this as in AS media, artists would post if they were on the cover of magazines or mentioned in an article to pick up a magazine. I thought it would be a good idea look at where I researched for my AS media for an ancillary text for a magazine advertisement as it is the same form of media. By incorporating the same inisheative I has in AS now, I thought I would be managing my time well when researching as I knew where to look for my research.
PREZI
To present my research, I used Prezi
to present my thought process in a creative mind map like style to make it easy
to understand and pleasant to look at rather then a large piece of text. When using prezi I came across a few propblems such as when using the prezi app, it wouldn't save it to my online account (on my laptop) therefore I wasted time as this was unable to be uploaded to blogger other than facebook which is't where this was needed. From this point I wanted to create the same prezi but on the laptop using web 2.0, however, my account wouldnt allow anymore images to be in a prezi file other then text as I met the copastity for the amount of MB the account used. This was due to using this account for my AS media studies too, so I therefore created a new account to over come this technical difficulty. WEB 2.0 I used web 2.0 and search engine "Google" the most to quickly find images and existing media texts. I used Google because it is a user friendly search engine and caters for a mass audience therefore, it seemed the most appropriate to use rather then any others. The use of different tabs at the top of the search engine allows searching to be much quicker. For example, if I typed in an artist into Google, it would present me with the Twitter, Facebook, magazines they have featured in and etc. Furthermore, if I click on images rather then web, it presents me with loads of images of the artsist. This is the same for the video tap and etc. By explaining this you can understand why it is a good search engine for my research and planning due to the features it consists of.
Construction and Evaluation stages
GO PRO When I constructed my filming and some images I used my go pro for the underwater scenes, time laps, and in the night club. This camera is a wide angle lens with a low lighting enhancer. This was beneficial for all locations for my work and without it, I don't believe I would produce the outcome I have with my other camera.
Along with the camera itself, I used the GoPro App to upload my videos and images to my ipad/laptop. By doing this I am organising my work and making sure I don't loose my files with using more then one computer; These being my laptop at home and Mac computers at college.
CANON
The canon I used was my 650D Dslr camera which has a 50mm lense. This camera is good for my fimling as I can use it in a number of settings when filming, for example, manual and auto. Furthermore, with my lense, I can change the option of auto focus or manual focus. For a lot of my music video I used auto focus to have a depth of feild within my music video which would differ mine from other peoples videos. An example of this is when the lights are turned on and off in the "crazy" scenes which allows the depth of field to occur with the camera lense looking for something to focus on.
ANCILLARY TEXTS
For my construction of my ancillary texts the main form of technology I used was my cannon 650D SLR and photoshop. To begin this construction, I set up my studio having two box lights or just one depending on what shadows I wanted to create. For this technology, I connected my camera to the box light so that it flashed when I pressed the shutter rather then just using a dull light. His required me to set my white balance to flash so that my own flash on my camera did not active when the picture was taken and the usual studio settings of aperture on F 9.0, shutter speed on 1/160 and the ISO onaround 100/200. I took all my photographs in manual to get the correct amount of light and dark in my images rather then on auto. When out of the studio in the local woodland known as the Westwood, I used a tripod, and manual settings again however these settings would be different to hose in he studio as the lighting was completely different. When I then took my photographs to photoshop, I used many different editing techniques such as adding a textured layer to my images, removing a stool and removing imperfections to my model. These tasks were carried out by using these tools on Photoshop:
- spot healing tool
- levels
- curves
- clone stamp tool
- use of layers - for text overlays
- bending techniques/tools
- exposure/contrast
- amount of grain
- feathered effect
- eraser
Photoshop Technology used
I have produced different videos as my camera ran out of charge so I used my iPad - another technology I mentioned I used in the video above and uploaded it to YouTube by using the app "Capture".
Here is a print screen I have mentioned earlier in my work. This is detailing where the tools I have used are located in photoshop. This will help to understand what im talking about in my videos above.
This is an print screen I created earlier on my blog to show where the tools are that I used when constructing my ancillary texts. As you can see, this is an older version of photoshop to the one I used in my video above, however, all the tools i've used are in the same place on this print screen as the new version does.
SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT
To get as much work done at possible, I thought It would be a good idea to use scuba diving equipment to produce my underwater shots and footage. This is a lot of equipment to produce a small outcome, however, I believed it was worth it.
For the task in hand, I didn't need a full wet suit as this was carried out in a swimming pool, however, i still needed to wear a wet suit to prevent the BCD (Buoyancy control device) from rubbing on my skin. The buoyancy device along with weight belt will allow me to float in the pool and control my depth. By using this I will be able to have continuity throughout my short film clips. I will be using fins to allow me to swim as it is difficult to swim without fins.
This is my license to show I am a qualified open water scuba diver. My Dad who will be my dive buddy, will help me by holding my cameras and assisting me with equipment and for safety purposes incase anything were to go wrong. My Dad is a qualified PADI Diver Master and has logged many dives in his lifetime and therefore will be a good person to help me throughout this task in hand.
FINAL CUT PRO
This is the program I used to create my music video. The green section on the time line is the music I have chosen and the blue sections are all my different clips which make up my music video. The large image to the top right is where I can view clips/my video. The drop down sections to the left of the viewing section is where all my original files are found. To add effects to my clips, I used the section to the bottom right of this print screen. This shows a selection of different effects final cut pro offers and the two I have used are black and white and 50's TV. I have also sped up or slowed some clips down and I do this by clicking on the drop down tool next to the wizard/wand tool. Other elements to final cut pro I used were the blade, trip and selection tool. These were used on almost every clip to create the outcome I wanted. By using these I can make the clips as long or as short as I want.
I found this program very easy to use in comparison to using the other editing suite as the program is much more user friendly. By choosing this program over the other, I was able to used much more exciting and abstract filming which I was able to edit quickly and easily using this software.
DIARY
Throughout my time filming and carrying out photo shoots, I have kept a brief diary of my time. This is not a technology but it has helped my organise my blog and my self. This has helped me keep up to date with work or if I have forgotten to upload something, It reminds me of what I have done to jog my memory.
This was very difficult to take images with all the equipment on my back which was slightly large on me as it was my Dads scuba diving equipment. It was hard to keep my balance in the water however as my camera was of a high quality, this helped my to over come the problem too as I also set it to continuous shooting which means it takes images one after the other so I don't miss a shot. By doing this it makes my shoot more reliable so I don't miss an interesting pose my model is in. To film it was difficult to as I had to keep the camera still and get in position before Jodee got into position.
I created these manipulations above by removing the blue tiles with the spot healing tool and clone stamp tool just like my woodland and stuido leviation shoots. Then finding an image on the internet using search engine 'Google' (on Web 2.0) and blending it with my image. Then I placed the same text I used on my other ancillary text draft. I didn't include any star ratings as it would make the image too crowded and busy. However I do really like this ancillary text, but I don't think I have enough footage for it to be my final ancillary text due to the video clips having the tiles in the video footage and no sun rays coming through the water. This does not show continuity thoughout my work, therefore, I will not be using this however much I like it.
To organise my next shoot I had to make sure I didn't have anymore university interview commitments to be able to concentrate on completing my music video as I have had to sit my work aside a few weeks for college trips and university interviews that are too far for me to drive there and back in one day.
Now I have no more interviews and neither does my main talent, I can organise a shoot at Beverley swimming baths for my underwater scenes. Before I called, I had to check the days Jodee was working, therefore, it was only logical to look at her rota.
Jode works in a restaurant which is very busy so organising this a week in advance gives her work enough notice if they needed anyone last minute. This rota shows that Jodee is working Friday evening, Sunday evening and Saturday evening which is great for me to be able to get a shoot done during the week.
This is the rota for Beverley swimming bath pools rota found online.
The black circle is where Beverley leisure centre is located in my town. Too shoot here I will pick Jodee up from the other side of town as it would be a long walk for her and I will also pay for her once we get there to go film.
SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT
For the task in hand, I didn't need a full wet suit as this was carried out in a swimming pool, however, i still needed to wear a wet suit to prevent the BCD (Buoyancy control device) from rubbing on my skin. The buoyancy device along with weight belt will allow me to float in the pool and control my depth. By using this I will be able to have continuity throughout my short film clips. I will be using fins to allow me to swim as it is difficult to swim without fins.
This is my license to show I am a qualified open water scuba diver. My Dad who will be my dive buddy, will help me by holding my cameras and assisting me with equipment and for safety purposes.
These images are to prove I've had my father in the water with me and that I took the photographs using the diving equipment. These shots were for a photography project on the same evening however are the only ones with a clear image of my taking the photograph (top) and my father in with me (bottom image) - dads taking an image with the flash
Hazardous material or procedure
Risk
(What could go wrong?)
Control Measures
(Safety Precautions)
Action –
in case of accident
Remaining Risk
(Low/Med/High)
Walking around the pool
Some one could trip/slip on the floor
Life guard is around at all times incase of an injury or harmful event.
Contact someone of authority at the leisure complex and seek medical advice from doctor or hospital if necessary
Medium
Activity in pool
My model/main talent could drown if she gets tired
Life guard is watching at all times along with my dad who will be in the water as he is a qualified dive master/rescue diver
Contact someone of authority at the leisure complex and seek medical advice from doctor or hospital if necessary
Low
Scuba equipment
During filming the dive tank could hit tiles in or out of the water
My dad will put the dive equipment in the pool first so we don't damage the pool when entering. This means we will put the dive equipment in the water.
My dad will also keep an eye out if, when I'm moving around the pool for different shots, int damage the pool tiles.
Contact someone of authority
Medium
Scuba equipment
The equipment hasn't been used in a few year so their May be a problem such as a air leak from the tank or pipes
To avoid this, me and my dad will carry out the usual procedure to check all the equipment. This entails checking the DV, the octopus, stages one and two along with a few more steps.
Accend to surafce ASAP. The pool is not deep enough to need a deco stop.
Low
car accident
To and from house to leisure complex
Could be a crash and I would be held responsible if someone were injured.
Make sure all seat belts are worn and my dad will be taking the scuba diving equipment in his car in case or an accident as he knows what to do if tanks were to be damged in a accident
Call 999
Low - (I am a legal driver and been driving for a year in May)
