Complete

This is my completed coursework project ready for marking.

Evaluation Q4

Throughout the whole project I have used many different technologies for many different purposes. I used them not only to create the products, but to display work online, gather feedback and various other activates. 

Early on in the project we used a website called Prezie to create the pitch for the music video. This is a presentation method that allows you to present images in a flowing and completely different way than most conventional presentation software.

We used various cameras in the creation of the video and products, mainly to film the video, but also to get shots of the costumes, and actors in preparation before filming. The main camera we used to film the video was a Canon XM2. It was not a HD camera but was a semi-pro DV camera which gave us more options when filming the video so we could get the maximum quality from the footage, by doing things like changing the shutter speed and lighting effects. I only learned how to do this during the filming process and proved quite useful as I can now make the most out of the camera I use to film, which I wouldn’t do before.

Also when filming we used various smart phone apps to contact each other and gather the necessary props we would need, as well as checking weather and other variables that may affect our filming. This proved very useful as we could instantly check details of things wherever we were.

Once we had filmed the footage we had to edit it. To do this we used Adobe Premier Pro. We decided to use this software because I was editing the video and I know this software better than Final Cut. We captured all of the footage off the camera through the software and began to edit it, it was useful using this software because I already know how to use it which helped greatly when cutting the video together. I have never used it to create a music video before so when creating this video I learned a lot about the timing of clips and how they match the music, which I did no know before.

After creating the video we used YouTube to show them to our audience. Obviously it was useful to have a social media link that we could share around various sites and gather feedback. By doing this I learned how to embed videos on to various blogs that previously I didn’t know how to do. We also utilised Facebook to gather feedback from the video, which proved useful as we could access members of our group and audience whenever from home.

When I started to create the digipak and advert I used Adobe Photoshop. I hadn’t really used this programme before so doing both of the final products was a big learning curve for me. It was helpful to be able to use professional editing software to create my products and as a first time user I was impressed with the outcome of my products.

As a group I feel we fully utilised all of the available technology at our disposal and made the most of having all the different technology readily available to use.

Evaluation Q3

Throughout this work the audience feedback has been a big part of what I created and how it changed. During the projects we received feedback from our target audience after every major step, for example after the pitch of our video idea, after all three of our music video cuts, and when we decided to change the whole theme of the video was after audience feedback. When I reached a final stage of completion of a product, I subjected it to audience feedback and made necessary changes that were suggested to help improve the product.

I conducted my audience feedback via two major methods. These were through directly asking the audience a set of questions that helped me find out specific information that helped me develop my work. The second was through a Facebook group in which I posted various versions of products ad changed them dependant on comments made by the audiences in the group.

I found the feedback extremely useful as a tool to tailor my products to suit the audience and maximise the quality of them. When making the music video we were un-sure whether our narrative theme made any sense and if it was worth continuing, so we made a small video with the narrative footage we had filmed, and showed it to the audience. The audience agreed that it was not working and we decided on that advice to change the whole style of the video.  

We took into consideration everything the audience had to say about our video cuts, and when creating the other products the audience feedback helped me shape and form what I created to make a product that best suited the audience.

Evaluation: Q2

Evaluation q2

View more presentations from JakeVaughan.

Evaluation Q1

At the start of my blog I looked at examples of existing products, such as digipaks, adverts and music videos. We looked at professionally made versions of them and analysed the various components that made them what they are. After looking at a range of media products, it was easy to see the different styles and themes they show, especially according to the genre of music that they are portraying. The differences were vast but each product we looked at had a strong professional look that could easily be identified with the band they were related to.

The subjects of entropy and redundancy arose from analysing the different products, entropy being if a media product was very different and in contrast from the typical product of a similar theme, redundancy being in keeping with the themes and style of products with the same or similar music genre. I looked at two examples of very different music videos with different genres of music. One was an example of a very entropic video and one was an example of a redundant video. By looking at these two examples, although they were very different it was clear to see that they had been tailored to suit the tastes of the target audience of the band. An example of this would be that fans of hip-hop music are traditionally used to seeing numerous women and shots of the star, which were seen in the video I looked at.

So by looking at these videos we identified that the genre of music helps to define the style of media product that will be created, but also that the audience of the music and band will be acknowledged in the form of what they would like to be seen from the bands products. We also established that the entropy and redundancy of media products is broad. Entropy will be recognised as standing out from the crowd and being different, but runs the risk of being too different and not accepted by the audience, but redundancy are generally well accepted by the audiences, but can be lost in the sea of many other similar products and seen as just being another boring product. So it is important to get the right balance.

These points will be important to consider when creating our own products, so that the target audience will be considered as well as standing out from the crowd and being different. I feel when it came to achieving these important features in our own products we took the right steps in making sure they were present.

When we had confirmation of our song choice it was important to establish our target audience. The song we were going to use was an alternative rock song, by a band in Australia called ‘The Novocaines’.  Now we had the song it was important for us to set up an audience profile, and establish who are target audience was. This would help us define a style for our products and work on how we were going to create that style and what the style entails.

We established our target audience as a younger adult but older teen generation of both genders. We feel they would like the bands: The Black Keys, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, and Them Crooked Vultures. Their income would be relatively low as they would probably be students, and enjoy artistic subjects to study.

Now we have a target audience we can establish what types of products we are going to create. I looked in detail at more examples of media products by similar bands so I can get an idea of what would be in keeping with the theme. The main thing that struck me was with this genre of music there was more entropic features and various features that you would not first expect from the genre of music. An example of this would be with the Foo Fighters. Many of their music videos are very entropic and nearly always a mixture of both narrative and performance based videos. This made us think that when creating the video we had a chance to create a really entropic video and still be keeping with the genre and what our target audience would expect.

The theorist Sir Ken Robinson stated that creativity grows from the fear of being wrong. I feel this was a strong feature with our group when thinking of a theme to make our music video with. We ended up deciding upon a very entropic idea of three men walking around town terrorising the town, but in fact only doing minor offences, yet them still thinking that they are cool. We thought this would be a good idea because it was different to many things seen before and it would be humorous, which would be a similar theme to videos by bands like the foo fighters, but after filming we decided it was too difficult to achieve and settled with a simple pure performance video. We did this because we felt at the late stage of filming it was a safe option that still gave us the chance to make a very professional looking video.

Our original narrative idea fitted with the theory or Tordorov. This was the face that there was an equilibrium, which was the group terrorising the town, there is disruption of the group, the disruption is overcome and then equilibrium is restored. This theory fits our original idea well, but we decided not to pressure the idea and went with the pure performance based video.

We tried to make the music video look as professional as we could and in keeping with the genre and of similar videos by other bands. We did this by using studio lighting, staging and various other props to give it a professional band look. Editing wise, we tried to make use conventions of a real media video, by using various camera shots and quick cuts to match the tempo of the music, as well as changing speeds and visual clips that would match the music and be in keeping with the theme.

In terms of my digipak I tired to use media conventions similar to the genre and in keeping with bands of a similar style by using things like specialist fonts, colour schemes and images. I had to use screen shots from the music video as we had no photographs to make the products with, but I was pleased with the ones I had chosen and they way they were laid out because I feel it looked very professional. On the final design I used a bar code, and various other features typically seen on a product of this type. I was impressed with the final product because I felt that it mirrored many features of professional pieces of a similar genre, such as: the colour scheme, arranging of the images, font, blurb, and bar code.

When creating the advert it was a very similar process to creating the digipak. I looked at various adverts of a similar genre to gather similar aspects from them I could use in my own work, as well as choosing the best advert size and shape that would be typical of the genre. I decided on a A5 landscape advert because it was the most typically seen in a music magazine that I had looked at. In terms of colours and fonts they are similar to the digipak, and keeps with the house style of the two. The same goes for the arranging of the images on the page. The conventions I used that were seen on similar adverts of the genre were the start reviews and the release date. I also used the Twitter and Facebook logo, as they can be seen on more and more adverts and albums as social networking grows and a marketing tool.

Overall I was pleased with all three of my media products and felt that they were good examples of the media products for the genre of music and the target audience. I feel they were not that entropic but redundant to the alternative rock theme, which is what I was trying to achieve from the start. There are no major features that strike me as different form the typical example, but as a redundant example for the genre I feel it is good. The colours and font are typical to what would be seen on professional media products similar to this and the layout reminds me of the grungy feel of some of the works by the white stripes and similar bands. I feel I have achieved products that would suit the target audience too, as it is not too entropic for the audience to reject it, but the cool and grungy look I feel would suit them well.

Final Products

Final Advert Design

This is my final advert design after the feedback from the facebook group.

Advert Feedback

This is the feedback from my first design of the advert from the Facebook group:

After looking at the feedback I will make the necessary changes.

Advert First Design

This is the first design of my potential advert. I have kept in style with the digipak, and tried to make it look professional as possible

Advert Dimensions

A mainstream advert in a magazine would be a whole side of A4 paper (297 x 210mm). More typically seen adverts are just half of one side (148.5 x 210mm), these are cheaper but still big enough to be noticed by readers, which is why they are chosen by many music labels.

Full Page Advert:

Half Page Advert:

After looking at the different adverts i have decided to create a half page advert.

House Style

After creating the digipak, I have decided to continue the house style that was chosen in previous posts by my target audience, and that I included when creating the digipak. I will use the same colour scheme, font, visual effects and various other similarities to make it look in the style of the digipak.

Digipak Feedback

This was the feedback from my final digipak design. It was pretty well recieved by my target audience.

Digipak Design

After the collaboration and choices from my previous posts about the design for the digipak I have created the following:

I have re-created various features seen in the digipak's I have analysed, such as the layout of the images, bar codes, features of the record on the back, colours,  and various other features. I have also used various effects on the photographs to make then fit in with the theme and design of the digipak.

Images I Will Probably Use

This is a collection of photographs I will use to create my digipak and advert. They are screenshots I have taken from the video that I feel will look the best as an advert or on the digipak.

 

Colour Scheme Feedback

After this feedback I have decided to use the far right colour scheme.

Potential Colour Schemes

These are the different colour schemes I will use for my advert and advert so I can keep a house style. I have chosen these colours because i feel they best reflect the style of music and similar genre.

Font Feedback

This is the feedback i got from the potential fonts on the Facebook page:

After this feedback I have decided to use the bottom font, which was named 'Chinese Rocks'

Potential Fonts

These are all potential fonts for the digipak and advert I will create. I have chosen to use these fonts because I feel that they reflect the theme of the music and band. Will use them for both the advert and digipak so i can keep a house style.

Facebook Feeback Page

I have decided to create a Facebook page where i will share my work and gather feedback from my target audience, and make various changes dependent on what they think.

Digipak Layout

This will be the layout for my digipak. Each window will be part of the digipak design, and I will create a design for each one

Final Video Feedback

Final Video

This is our final cut for our music video. We have made the changes from the previous cuts, and feedback is to follow for this video.

Rough Cut Feedback

Rough Cut

This is our first cut of our video. It is a very basic edit just so we can get an idea of the final video now we have finished filming all of our video.

Time Managment Update

By now we were meant to be releasing our final video tomorrow. This means we are two weeks behind schedule due to the change of plans with the video theme change.Now will have to work extra hard to get back up to date before the deadline.

After Filming Drums

We have now filmed the footage of the drummer. we had an issue that the room we filmed in before was being used, so to make the footage match the rest of the video, we have used specialist lighting to only highlight certain aspects of the drumming that will match the song. When we put it in the video we will only show quick clips of the drummer so it matches the rest of the footage and not make it look out of place.

Problems Whilst Editing

We have decided as a group that it is hard to create the video without any footage of drums being played, so we have decided to film some extra footage of a drummer, as we now have access to a drum kit that was previously unavailable.

It will be hard to film this extra scene and cut it smoothly into the rest of the video as we do not have any footage of the drums being played with the group at all.

Extra Filming

We are now going to film extra footage of the band as we have decided to change the video to pure performance, which was the choice we made as a group via our own thoughts and a focus group of the rough narrative edit we created.

Particular shots needed:
Sam getting tech on the fret board at the end solo of the song
More shots of Will singing into the microphone
Shots of teh whole group playing together
At the end o the song with the heavy guitar solo we need shots of me and Sam playing together.

Change Of Plan

After the focus group and overall decision to drop the narrative aspect of our video we have decided to create a pure performance video. Due to the lack of performance footage we are now heading to the location where we last filmed the performance, to film some more footage of the band playing their instruments and performing as a group.

Narrative Edit

We made a one minute edit of the start of the video as we felt that the narrative aspects of the video were not working. With this edit we showed it to a focus group to see whether the audience felt the same way as us.

The main thoughts were that the narrative aspects did not make any sense and it was hard to follow what was going on.

Following the feedback we are considering different ideas that we could apply to the video and footage that we already have.

Changes

We made a short rough cut of the start of our video, that includes both narrative and performance aspects. We did not follow the storyboard directly as we felt that it did not make any sense, so made the group decision to edit a small version with the changed order of clips and get feedback from an audience on whether the changes work well with the video, or if we should re-think our original idea.

Editing

For editing we have decided to use Adobe Premier Pro CS5.5.  We will use this program to capture and cut all of the clips together. It is important when editing to follow the planned storyboards as well as match the footage and cuts to the music, which can take time but will make the video look good as a final product.

This is the software we are using to create the video:

Filming Update

We have filmed the majority of the narrative scenes for the music video as well as some performance footage now we are going to the cutting room to make a rough edit and see what else needs to be filmed and if we need to change certain aspects. This allows us enough time to go out and film more footage that may be needed or to change certain aspects

Starting Filming

As of today we will start filming for the video. We will use all of our planning and storyboards to maximize the amount of footage we can accumulate in a day.

Having the storyboards with us when we film allows us to know exactly what we need to film and minimize time wastage involved in the filming process.

Ragdoll Storyboard

Risk Assesment

Potential Danger	Potential Outcomes	Actions to avoid potential outcomes	Risk Severity / Probability (10 – most severe/most probable)	Particular Location
Tripping hazard	Camera man trips while whilst filming and walking	Work out route of filming and walking backwards	3 / 3	Street adjacent to Ludlow Spar
Vehicles	Hit by a car	Make sure we don’t wander into the road	10 / 3	Whitcliffe
Tripping hazard	Trip on tripod	Clearly mark the legs of the tripod	3 / 3
Shooting Furniture hazard, appliance hazards	Sliding across tables may cause falls, appliances can be tripping hazards	Define route of travel through room and clearly note hazards on it	3 / 3	LRC, Ludlow College
Shooting Miscellaneous accident			3 / 3	Alley off Castle Square
Shooting Tripping off the stage	Tripping off the stage, potential minor injury	Be aware of the edges of the stage, and undulations in it.	5/5	College drama studio

Filming Time Managment

This is a timetable stating the available times to film, or edit the video per member of the group.

Each section represents lesson slots which may or not may be available for the group to work in.

Prop Availability

Prop	Locations	Cost	Why Needed
Tattoo Gun	Sam’s Brother	Free	For the scene when Sam gets a tattoo of a cartoon penis
Guitar (X2)	Sam	Free	Performance
Black Suit	EBay	£50+	So the characters costumes match
Balaclava	EBay/ Charity Shops	£5-£20	So the characters costumes match
Car	Ed/Jake	Free	For the scenes on Whittecliffe and deposing of Will’s Body
Gun	Jake	Free	The Shooting Of Will
Fake Drugs	Shop	£3-£5	For the drug scene in the attic
Microphone	College	Free	For Will to sing into
Drum Kit	College maybe	Free	For performance
A serious Book	Library	free	For library scene
Fake Blood	Shop	£1-£2	For the tattoo scene

Filming Locations

All of our filming locations for both narrative and performance are in Ludlow.

Sam's House: Tattoo Scene
The Queens: Shooting of Will, and drugs Scene
Ludlow College: Library Scene and performance.
Raven Lane: Slow motion walking.
Whitcliffe: Driving scenes.