Evaluation 4

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

           Having done Media Studies for several years, I know how to use most of the resources and technologies available, as I have used them to create media products in the past, for example I’ve used Adobe Photoshop to create my magazine for my AS Coursework. Although when creating my coursework this year there were a lot of new programs and technologies I had never used before. In the research and planning stages of my coursework, I used the website www.blogger.com by Google to set up a blog where I documented the development of my coursework, continuing this process until I reached the stage where I handed my coursework in. On my blog I made regular video or text-based diary posts describing what I had been doing that week or if there had been an occasion where I had been filming and wanted to note something on the blog. In conjunction with my blog, I used websites such as www.prezi.com, www.scribd.com and www.youtube.com to upload various documents and media that I could then embed in posts on my blog. This showed I could use a variety of technologies and was versatile rather than sticking to the same format that I was used to. My blog helped me to organize myself as it allowed me to browse what tasks I had completed and what more I needed to do. It also helped me to post everything on time and ensure I met deadlines, as well as giving me a simple way to get regular feedback from my peers and teachers on my progress.

When filming for my music video, I mainly used a Canon 550D camera with a cinematic shutter speed and 1.8 aperture lens. This allowed me to shoot in shallow focus, which added variation and extra effect to my video, as well as making it look more professional in general. It also helped me have focus pulls, which is most notable on the guitar and when the car lights go off towards the end of the video. I also used a GoPro Hero3 for the various scenes as it could fit in smaller places and still provide a larger, good quality picture. In addition I used this for the underwater scenes too.  Furthermore, the attachments for it also helped get better angles and camera positions, such as the CCTV typed shot in the bathroom, where we had the camera attached to the end of a microphone stand, which was then taped to the wall. For the scenes of the guitarist and the ending scenes with the instruments with lots of high contrast, I used two fill lights with red and blue filters (red for the instruments and blue for the guitar), which gave me high-key lighting and added as a good filter but also allowed for me to make it look more professional and sharper when turning the contrast up. In the other scenes I used the sources that would be natural in the music video, such as the bathroom light and lights on the equipment. On the ‘chair’ scene, I used a very powerful lamp I had, which allowed me to create the effect of the light coming up, and then going down. After I had filmed all the footage I needed to edit it all together. I did this using Adobe Premier Pro CS6, where I imported all my footage and then cut clips using the razor tool and sped them up or slowed them down using the time stretch tool as well as obviously moving them using the pointer tool. I also had to do a lot of scaling on the clips as they were shot at such a large size, with the exception of the GoPro Hero3, which I had to zoom in for the bath scene as I wanted a close-up of the side of his face rather than a close mid-shot. I also automated the effects so they gradually came in rather than having them be prominent throughout the clip. For example when he first walks into the last performance room with the teddy bear, the contrast starts low, but as he steps out of the shadows it changes to very high.

For my digipak cover and magazine advert, I did not use any images I had taken from both this year and last year as I found they were not up to a good enough standard to fit in with the theme of this year, as well as taking into account “If I was an artist, would I be happy with this as my album cover”. Instead of images, I used original graphics I created, which consisted of a logo, and then a blackboard effect typed background, with the chalk text on the album, coinciding with the theme of the album title ‘Lesson One’. I used Adobe Photoshop CS6 to do this. As I did not use images, I didn’t feel the need to use filters or do any editing of the colours as I could change them from the original source of the graphics or in the ‘Blending Options’. I feel I was lucky as I did not have to search the internet for the perfect font on websites such as www.dafont.com as there was already a font exactly how I had planned the chalk font to look like on my computer called ‘Chalkduster’. Creating the inside of my digipak also followed the theme of the chalkboard, this time introducing a yellow coloured font for the track names. Again, I created both pages from scratch, although I feel the CD page could have been better as it is very basic and does not look as effective as the rest of the sides. I found myself often using the ‘Blending Options’, which I had used throughout my AS Coursework when creating my magazine so was very comfortable and confident in using them.

Media technologies did not only help me and allow me to be more creative in my research, planning and production stages, it also allowed me to receive feedback from my audience too. They allowed me to get feedback online by posting my video on websites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, where I could screenshot comments as well as the methods I have used in the past such as getting people together to show them. By displaying my video on various different platforms, it allowed me to reach a larger number and variety of people, which both fit my primary and secondary target audiences.

Evaluation 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

         As I mentioned before, my target audience for my products are aged between 16 and 25, although there would be a secondary audience of females also aged between 16 and 25. I find that feedback is a key and one of the most important parts of making any product, as without positive feedback the product cannot be considered successful, as it does not appeal to the intended target audience. However, negative feedback and constructive criticism is just as important as it allows you to go back to your products and improve certain aspects that could have been done better and therefore be more appealing to my intended target audience. Due to my beliefs on feedback, throughout the stages of creating my video, digipak and magazine advert, I asked a wide variety of people on what they thought of my products, initially from my primary and secondary target audiences, to people ranging in age and social beliefs. This helped me get an insight into what people thought of my product and whether it would be commercially accepted or not. I managed to gather feedback through videoing family and friends’ reactions and asking people over the Internet who would typically fit my target audience. I also manage to obtain peoples thoughts on my products through posting them online on websites such as Blogger, Youtube, Vimeo, Tumblr and Facebook, where people could comment and rate my productions, which helped me get statistics on what worked well for the best audience response. It appeared to me that some sites were better at displaying feedback than others, although when using them together I could generate accurate results on what people thought of my products. For example, if I created an unlisted YouTube link and shared it on Facebook, I could then see how many people watched my video from the post, as well as interactions such as ‘likes’ on either the Facebook post or the video on YouTube itself. I could then get more in depth feedback by people commenting, as well as sharing the link to people on the private chat feature on Facebook, where they can reply directly to me. I found that for me personally, Facebook was the best form of feedback I could get as most of the people I am connected with on there are people from my primary target audience. Although when making decisions on my music video, I chose to focus on it myself rather than posting it online for a number of reasons, the main being the time it would take to upload each version would be too long for what it’s worth. The second reason would be that if I had too many mixed opinions, I would confuse myself and try to incorporate them all as best I can, which would turn out to be counter productive. Instead, I finished my video how I wanted it to look, and then uploaded it for feedback. Furthermore, I asked family members and friends in face-to-face conversations, as I could also tell from their facial expressions and body language as to how they feel towards the video. They were also more likely to be honest with me with what to improve on, even if it was little things such as the lighting in a shot. In addition, the people who helped me shoot and set up for the video were particularly interested to see the final product, as well as having their own idea of what the video would look like, so they also had an input on what my final product turned out to look like.

Whilst putting the final colour adjustments on my video, I got regular feedback from my primary target audience about which looked better, or what would look better. To do this I exported a few versions of the same clip, the difference being the amount of effect used, in most cases the contrast, and then showed them to various people for their thoughts and which clip they preferred. The main part of my video this was most useful was the ending with the red and black performance scenes as I was undecided between making it look really dark and mysterious yet natural, or going with the version that ended up in my final finished product. In addition, audience feedback helped me decide which shots were going to work best, when I showed classmates the footage I had shot, I took notes of their reactions and how the different shots made them respond. Overall I had around an hour and a half of footage to use for my video, although only needed five minutes for my final product, so showing people all of the footage would have been difficult, and despite not showing people the draft versions it would have been very useful to get additional feedback on the music video as a whole rather than individual scenes as they would have a better insight to the storyline and other shots than will run with the clips they have seen, therefore it might have changed their opinion on the shots. However, I feel that it was a risk that paid off, as I am very pleased with my finished video and the feedback I have received since finishing it.

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 1

Final Music Video

 Here is my final music video.

Digipak Front Cover

Here is my digipak front cover. I decided to keep it minimal by creating a blackboard effect and using a font that looked like chalk. I then put the logo onto the front, and using blending options on Photoshop CS6 I added a small white stroke and removed the fill of the logo. Furthermore the artists are 'unknown' as no one knows what they look like, therefore I decided that it would not be appropriate to put any images of them on the digipak

Digipak Back Cover

Here is the back cover from my Digipak, it includes the songs from the album continuing with the blackboard theme. It also has the barcode which every digipak has, as well as the 'Three Beggars' logo in the bottom right. Furthermore, it has further details about the mixing and mastering stages of the album and the contact information for them. This was also included on the inside cover as digipaks such as Pendulum's 'Hold Your Colour' included these details on both pages.

Digipak Inside + Song Information

Here is the inside of my digipak where information on all the tracks are provided, such as who its written and produced by. I created this on Adobe Photoshop CS6, making it simplistic, following the blackboard theme of the front cover, only using the rectangle shape tool and text.

Inside of Digipak - CD

Here is the inside of my digipak where the CD would be. It will also have the design on the CD, as shown on the super imposed picture of the digipak. It is a variation of the original Three Beggars logo (featured on the front of the digipak). Again I stuck with the blackboard theme.

Magazine Advert

My magazine advert continues with the same theme used throughout my Digipak with the blackboard effect with the chalk font. I decided to layout the reviews in a table - continuing with the school theme. I added the tour dates to give their fans information on when and where they will be performing. In addition I included the information about the album coming out. Lastly I added their website at the bottom so the fans can go there for extra information.

Super-Imposed Magazine Advert

Here is my magazine advert displayed on other promotional forms, in this case on Facebook and a bus. I created a Facebook page for my artist and made some posts to give it the effect of a real page, interacting with the fans.

Effects Comparison for my Final Video

Here is a video showing my final video with and without effects side by side, and how much the effects in my video enhance the image and mood of the shots in comparison to the video without them.

Music Video Feedback

When asking my target audience to give me feedback, I ensured they were familiar with the genre of the song, so they would know what to expect in the music video, despite the Drum & Bass/Dubstep genre having no clear stereotypes. The first person I asked to give me feedback was a friend who produces the genre, called Matt Davies (Portanexus), from Bournemouth. Here is an example: He said: "I like the use of lighting in the video but effects look pretty stock (not original)." The second person I asked was also another Drum & Bass/Dubstep producer called Liam Ralph (Lakeway) from Exeter. Here is an example: He said: "I like it, but some parts could be a bit brighter, like the part with you in the tub" Another Drum & Bass producer I asked was Danny Prunty (Shadre) from Wigan, he said: "I'm liking the different shots you got on this video, guess its just the shakey camera at some points, would be better if they were at fixed angles" I also asked a house producer (Ben Boughton/Phrixus) to get an opinion from a different genre. He said: "This is looking good".

A friend's mum saw my video on her daughters laptop screen and decided to tell me: "Robbie your music video clearly demonstrates your creative vision and you should really consider a career in this industry! Fabulous! Jacqueline P"

Technical Difficulties

Throughout my project there was various problems that could occur when creating my products. Thankfully the only problems I had weren't anything major, such as Photoshop occasionally not responding, although I have worked myself into a habit over the years of saving after every change I make.
The main problem I had was uploading products to this blog, getting this error message:

When exporting my video, digipak and magazine advert, I ensured they were in formats that could be easily uploaded to my blog with easy and displayed on every kind of operating system without needing any specialist software.

Super-Imposed Digipak

Here I have super-imposed my digipak to display how it would look if it was a real-life media product. I original took a picture of an existing digipak and then used Adobe Photoshop CS6 to place my product over the top of the original design.

Commenting on the Effects used

Here I comment on the effects, particularly contrast in the final scene. In addition to this video, I used different amounts of contrast throughout my production on different clips, for example the shot of the character sitting on the chair at the side of the house before the 'drop' would have less contrast than the one of the character in the bathroom as it was lit brighter. This gave it a cinematic, mysterious kind of effect, which linked in with the theme of the video and turned out the way I wanted it, as I wanted it to be almost like a short film, although with certain aspects of a music video, such as the performance. I will create a video comparing the videos with and without effects and see how they compare to each other and if they have the same effect.

How The Plan Developed

Here is a video explaining how my plan changed throughout my time of doing A2, from back in June where I was originally going to do a different song completely (Chase & Status - Flashing Lights (ft. Sub Focus & Takura)), then how I decided to change it to Example - Playing in the Shadows (also produced by Chase & Status) as they are similar in the sense that they start quite ambient and acoustic and build up over time, eventually 'dropping'. I talk about how the original party scene idea would not have been possible as well as other ideas I had to change, before coming to the final conclusion that evolved to be the music video itself.

Development of Magazine Advert

Development of Magazine Advert

Analysis of a Music Video

Waiting All Night is the title track from Rudimental’s recent EP ‘Waiting All Night’.

The song is typical of the drum and bass genre but also could be described as having pop elements as it is commercially acceptable whereas most drum and bass is classed as ‘underground’. Although different places where you download the song from will display different genres, such as Beatport displaying the genre as ‘Drum & Bass’, where as iTunes lists it as ‘Dance’. The video is the inspirational true life-story of San Francisco born BMX champion and actor - Kurt Yaeger, who became an amputee after an accident in 2006.
All the characters in the video are pro bmx'ers and the real friends of Kurt.

The majority of the video shows them riding around and doing tricks, as well as Kurt trying to regain his ability to ride again, which is different for a typically commercial video where the artist is usual featured in the video.

The beginning of the video where he has his initial accident, causing him to lose a leg, gives further insight and explains the rest of the video. Only diegetic sounds are heard throughout this opening sequence and the music starts when we are first introduced to the hospital scene.

It starts off with everyone being teary-eyed whilst he is unconscious and when he wakes up to realize he has lost a leg. As the video develops, it then displays everyone continuing to be happy when he accepts what has happened to him. They also continue to have the ‘do what you want’ attitude they seemed to have, especially shown when they are righting on the glass in his hospital room, which represents the freedom they have, even if the nurse frowns upon it.

It progresses on to showing him leave the hospital with him in a wheelchair, to then going straight to a party, as he is wearing the same clothing he leaves the hospital in, again representing freedom and being ‘inspiring’ as the whole video is. It shows him being a spectator for bmx’ers jumping off roofs and doing other tricks, whereas before he probably would’ve been the one doing it, displaying he has had his freedom taken away is that sense.

Furthermore it continues to display him at various parties and having fun, not letting his accident hold him back from enjoying himself. There are more shots of bmx’ers riding around at these parties, as he continues to watch on. The lyrics are not directly represented in the video, although could be interpreted metaphorically, the title ‘Waiting all night’ could represent such as the phrase ‘It won’t happen overnight’, where in the end after he waits and trains for months he is finally riding again.

There are various shots of his leg, reminding us of his injury, but also shots of him using his resources and unscrewing his old handlebars from his bike and using them to train his upper body by doing pull-ups, displaying his determination.

The next few shots project a false leg being made, and him learning to walk using it, again displaying an even happier mood than before in the video, yet still making jokes and having fun wherever they go, in this case, the hospital.

As the dynamics and mood of the song calms down, it displays him training and trying to ride his bike again, displaying him getting frustrated on a few occasions and his friends looking on anxiously.

When he finally starts riding again, it is followed by a shot of birds flying away, symbolizing he has become independent and free again.

Males throughout dominate the video, although the females are portrayed as friends, onlookers or fans.

The weather is bright, dry and sunny throughout, as it is shot in San Francisco which is a built up part of America, therefore very urban. This also adds to the high key, natural lighting. Little effects are used, which is somewhat unusual for a Drum & Bass video, although this song is very commercial and different from typical Drum & Bass songs as mentioned earlier. The video ends with the lighting fading out as if night has come, which is the only the second time there has been a scene that isn’t shot in the sun throughout the whole video, which is ironic as the song title is ‘Waiting All Night’.

During the last scenes it shows him riding around freely with his friends looking on happily, riding with him towards the end of a day a the lighting is slightly lower-key and there are more shadows and silhouettes of the people and bikes. It also shows them drinking and smoking whilst smiling, furthermore adding to the freedom and shows they are doing what makes them happy.

The camera throughout the video is mainly handheld and especially when they are riding on the bikes makes me think a GoPro camera was used to get the close shots, especially the ones towards the end when it displays his false leg pedaling. It also adds to the mood of the video as the camera used makes it look as if the clips were from random bits of footage they had collected when out and about. If a camera they use to shoot Hollywood films was used in this video it would be too large for a lot of the shots, as well as looking a bit too professional for the kind of video they were shooting.

The editing is quite fast for a lot of scenes, although does slow down for some shots to allow the viewer to see them in more detail. The camera movement and editing helps create the energetic feel which is also created from the Drum & Bass genre.

Raw Photos of Location

Here are raw photos of the location, as explained in the raw footage post. 

Raw Footage of Location

Here is a video displaying the raw footage of most of my locations for my media and why I chose these locations. It also shows how I set up the room to get the right shots and made sure everything that was seen by the camera was intentional.

Construction Evidence for the 'Bedroom DJ' Scene

Here is the video showing the raw footage of the scene of the DJ in the bedroom. It displays how I put duvets over the curtain rail to help and block out more light to create a darker shot when filming, as well as putting a filter over the light to ensure the room was not too bright.

Construction Evidence For 'Bathroom' Scene

In this video it shows raw footage of the bathroom, where I use red food dye to create the effect of blood smeared on the walls and in the bath. Furthermore I covered the windows with materials such as cardboard and black bin-bags to block the light out to give the effect that the character did not want anyone to see into the room.

Construction Of My 'Chair' Scene

Here is the construction evidence of me sorting out the scene where my character is sat on the chair.

Photographs From Filming

Although I don't have images from every set we shot at, here are some shots from some of the main scenes.

During the performance set.

During the performance set

During the performance set

In the bath with the GoPro camera attached to a microphone stand

A bit of DIY keeping the light out

Duvets over the curtains to keep the light out and filtering the light in the room.

Blocking the windows off for the bathroom scene.

Getting the cameras in place and equipment set up.

Filtering the windows in the bathroom.

Darkening the room for the scene with the filtered red lighting.

The duvets over the windows blocking the light out.

Red filter over the light bulb.

Setting up the bathroom with red food dye.

Setting up the bathroom with red food dye.

Setting up the bathroom with red food dye.